Elite Alliance luxury exchange company

[TravelTime]

Is anyone an Elite Alliance member and have you used it for exchanging?

I have a complimentary membership through my Four Seasons Aviara timeshares. The properties look really nice but wondering what others, who have used it, think of it?

The exchange fees are high, ranging from about $395 to $895. Also you are still paying the MF on your underlying unit for exchange. So this means an exchange week costs in the $3000 to $4000 range. However, I do see that there are many locations that only use a low amount of points so I could potentially take 2-3 vacations with my one week exchange. But I would pay the exchange fee every time.

Would it be worth it to deposit one of my 2019 FSA weeks into Elite Alliance vs using the week at FSA?

I can trade back into FSA for a lower number of points if we are flexible with the dates. At the moment, we do not have a clear idea of when we want to go to FSA in 2019. With Elite Alliance, we get an additional 2 years to travel. Elite Alliance does have a lot of properties locally near us so we could drive to many. FSA is an 8 hour drive from us.

P.S. I forgot to mention the cleaning fees. Just about every EA resort charges a huge housekeeping fee after checking out. It can be anywhere from a minimal amount to hundreds of dollars i.e. on big houses, it can be as high as $600.

 

[Eric B]

We're eligible to use EA, but didn't actually join as of now. My concern is not knowing how good an inventory of available weeks they have to exchange into. Can you search without depositing? I'm any case the fees seem quite high. Let me know how it goes if you try them out, please. Seems like the Escapes might be a better get than exchanging.

 

[TravelTime]

We're eligible to use EA, but didn't actually join as of now. My concern is not knowing how good an inventory of available weeks they have to exchange into. Can you search without depositing? I'm any case the fees seem quite high. Let me know how it goes if you try them out, please. Seems like the Escapes might be a better get than exchanging.

There are many Escapes available. They range from about $995 to $1895 for 3-7 days. I have not yet booked an Escape. I have seen some great locations and villas as Escapes, even Bahamas and St John. But they go quickly. The membership fee is $495 a year but it is waived for FSA owners.

 

[JustynaC]

I'd like to reactivate this post to share my recent experiences with TUG members who may be considering Elite Alliance. I have been with Elite Alliance for over 2 years now, at their premier level ($695). And I am very disappointed! I deposited 2 weeks of my Four Seasons Aviara in Carlsbad. I have found that I have not been able to book 12 months (or even 6 months) in advance, which I like to do. It seems that unless you are flexible enough and can book within 3-4 months, there really isn't much available. I have put in many vacation requests, but no luck. At this point, I think that I'm probably going to lose my deposits. If I haven't been able to get an exchange in over two years, I just don't see it happening. My Elite Alliance representative, Ingrid, essentially told me that the properties I am interested (Grand Cayman and Turks & Caicos) in would be very difficult to get. SO, MY TAKE AWAY IS TO BE VERY, VERY certain that you will be able to actually get trades to properties that are desirable to you with Elite Alliance. In addition, when you look at the properties available with Elite Alliance, the costs that they list are not your final costs. They add on a LOT of extra fees! In my opinion, Elite Alliance is not worth the money. Unless they get a lot more inventory, that is actually available, I would not recommend them.

 

[jonfff74]

Commentary on Elite Alliances is relatively scarce on TUGs. Can any FS Aviara or other members who've had occasion to exchange their timeshare for an Elite Alliance property or those that have purchased an Elite Escape (properties available for rental within 45 days of the available week) comment on their experience using Elite Alliance? Specifics are always helpful - e.g. instead of saying the program is valuable please provide specific information as to where you were able to travel to, when you reserved the location relative to your travel date, and how much you spent for the week and how much money you think you saved. I could not really find any reviews from a Google search other than a small number of reviews on Facebook which I deem unreliable because Elite may have paid or otherwise solicited those reviews. That being said, it does not seem fair to critique Elite Aliance for not having Elite Escapes more than 45 days before the open travel dates since they say explicitly that is how and when Elite Escapes become available (45 days - or less - before the travel date).

 

[JustynaC]

Commentary on Elite Alliances is relatively scarce on TUGs. Can any FS Aviara or other members who've had occasion to exchange their timeshare for an Elite Alliance property or those that have purchased an Elite Escape (properties available for rental within 45 days of the available week) comment on their experience using Elite Alliance? Specifics are always helpful - e.g. instead of saying the program is valuable please provide specific information as to where you were able to travel to, when you reserved the location relative to your travel date, and how much you spent for the week and how much money you think you saved. I could not really find any reviews from a Google search other than a small number of reviews on Facebook which I deem unreliable because Elite may have paid or otherwise solicited those reviews. That being said, it does not seem fair to critique Elite Aliance for not having Elite Escapes more than 45 days before the open travel dates since they say explicitly that is how and when Elite Escapes become available (45 days - or less - before the travel date).

Just curious, what did my post above not cover regarding EA?

 

[jonfff74]

Just curious, what did my post above not cover regarding EA?

With all due respect, I don't understand the source of your disappointment. They make a point of saying that most of their inventory available for exchange does not appear until relatively close to the time of travel. If that is the case, you should not have been surprised that you were unable to book inventory well ahead of time. Is there something I misunderstood re your commentary. Further, I was really more focused on inventory available for Elite Escapes rather than exchange inventory. Correct me if I'm wrong, but you did not really address that subject.

 

[JustynaC]

WOW! I don't think it's necessary to bash anyone for their opinion! You are correct in that I did not address Elite Escapes, but your post reads "Can any FS Aviara or other members who've had occasion to exchange their timeshare for an Elite Alliance property..." As an owner of 2 FS Aviara properties, I have not had luck with EA. This is simply my experience. That's it.
I have also been on their 'wait list' for a few properties for about 2 years now, with no luck. That is the source of my disappointment.


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[Eric B]

WOW! I don't think it's necessary to bash anyone for their opinion! You are correct in that I did not address Elite Escapes, but your post reads "Can any FS Aviara or other members who've had occasion to exchange their timeshare for an Elite Alliance property..." As an owner of 2 FS Aviara properties, I have not had luck with EA. This is simply my experience. That's it.
I have also been on their 'wait list' for a few properties for about 2 years now, with no luck. That is the source of my disappointment.


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I’ve seen FS Aviara on Third Home lately; they have a decent number of exchange options. If Elite Alliance isn’t working for you, you could try them.

 

[JustynaC]

I’ve seen FS Aviara on Third Home lately; they have a decent number of exchange options. If Elite Alliance isn’t working for you, you could try them.

Thank you, Eric. I'll check it out. I've never heard of Third Home. But, my issue is that I deposited 2 Four Seasons Aviara into Elite Alliance 2 years ago and I was hoping to be able to use them before they expire, which is soon. I very much appreciate your advice.