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Best SA Timeshare?

L

Larry6417

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Edmonton, AB, Canada
I've heard that SA timeshares trade well, especially for the maintenance fee. Is this still generally true? The TS I'm specifically interested in is Dikhololo. I've read from some recent postings that there's concern that its trading power has decreased. I would be looking at a SA TS mainly as a trader. I like travelling to New York and San Francisco. Would a Dikhololo TS get me into either of those cities? What is the best SA TS to own?
 
Dikhololo -- The Original Tiger Trader.

Click here for the TUG Advice item from way back that helped stoke people's interest in South African timeshares.

Not saying Dikhololo or any of the others in South Africa has the same trade power today as it did back then, but there you are.

In any case, costs are still relatively low -- so even a pussycat South African trader can still be advantageous for trades into nice USA timeshares.

Full Disclosure: Dikhololo was unavailable when we decided to buy a South African timeshare for trades into nice USA timeshares. So we sprang for Lowveld Lodge instead. So far, so good.

-- Alan Cole, McLean (Fairfax County), Virginia, USA.​
 
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Thank you for your response Alan. Could you give me an idea of what sort of exchanges you've been able to make using Lowveld Lodge? Also, what are the maintenance fees and how quickly do they rise? I've seen that some SA TS are gold crown rated. Do GC South African TS trade substantially better than plain vanilla SA TS? Thanks again.
 
I have a Mt. Amanzi Peak week-which is not the same as the red flexi weeks. I can see everything-Hawaii, Disney etc., that anyone posts on the sightings boards with my peak week.

I also HAD a red flexi St. Michaels sands week which did OK but just didn't have the oomph that my MA week has. The maintenance fees were close but the trading power was quite different. I sold them.

I have a cheapo Silversands week that doesn't pull worth anything. But my levis are around $100 a year and I use it for last minute exchanges. It does a wee bit better than last minute getaways, that's about it. It does get me a few places I can't get last minute.
 
Breaking Even & Coming Out Ahead.

Larry6417 said:
Could you give me an idea of what sort of exchanges you've been able to make using Lowveld Lodge?
Click to expand...
Via straight week-for-week exchanges, we've snagged Vistana Orlando (January 2003) & TaraNova ImperiaLakes (January 2004) & HGVC Sea World (Seotember 2004) & Club IntraWest Sandestin (January 2009). All those were very nice -- & all were considered off-season for Florida timeshare vacationing. HGVC Sea World was 3BR. Club IntraWest Sandestin was 1BR. The 2 others were 2BR. Our Lowveld Lodge trade bait unit is 2BR, standard grade.

We figured when we bought at Lowveld Lodge that we would break even with 3 nice exchanges. By that standard, we have broken even & then some. That is, in addition to those 4 straight-weeks exchanges, we've also used Lowveld Lodge for Points For Deposit a few times.
Larry6417 said:
Also, what are the maintenance fees and how quickly do they rise?
Click to expand...
Without going into the files & looking up exact amounts, I'd say current & recent levies have been $350 or so annually. Amounts vary not only with the resort's actual operating costs, but also with the ups & downs of the foreign currency exchange rates.

It was closer to $250 annually when we started with Lowveld Lodge. Shux, it was only $750 or so to buy it -- & that included several years of paid-up RCI membership thrown in as part of the deal. Before that, we were not RCI members & we never exchanged the USA timeshare that we already owned.
Larry6417 said:
I've seen that some SA TS are gold crown rated. Do GC South African TS trade substantially better than plain vanilla SA TS?
Click to expand...
Honest answer is I Don't Know. I don't think Dikhololo & the other tiger traders from the heyday of Souith African timeshare trade power were ever Gold Crown, but I don't know that for sure either.

Gold Crown, etc., does make a difference when doing Points For Deposit. The higher the rating, the higher the points value when doing Points for Deposit. Ditto when using points to exchange in.

-- Alan Cole, McLean (Fairfax County), Virginia, USA.​
 
Thanks for the info and advice. Even if I can't make an exchange I want , points-for-deposit sonds like a good idea. SA resorts seem to be worth a lot of points for the manitenance fee charged. With PFD do you book a week first then deposit for points? I assume different weeks are worth different amounts. Would this info be on RCI.com, so I can get the max. amount of points?
 
How We Do It.

Larry6417 said:
With PFD do you book a week first then deposit for points? I assume different weeks are worth different amounts. Would this info be on RCI.com, so I can get the max. amount of points?
Click to expand...
With fixed-week timeshares, there's no separate booking step involved.

Lowveld Lodge & apparently some of the other timeshares in South Africa issue what they call a Clearance Code when the year's levies have been paid. Banking the week with RCI involves telling RCI the Clearance Code number, so then RCI knows everything is on the up & up.

What we do is bank Lowveld Lodge the old fashioned way (week for week deposit), then change that to Points For Deposit if we want after it's already banked -- giving us the option to see if any advantageous week-for-week swaps are available before we take the points instead.

The number of points obtained via Points For Deposit is highest for Red Season multi-room units at Gold Crown timeshares, & correspondingly lower for smaller off-season units at lower-rated timeshares.

I'm sure there's reading material on-line somewhere at RCI Dot Com spelling out all that information.

-- Alan Cole, McLean (Fairfax County), Virginia, USA.​
 
If you like NYC and SF buy NYC and SF Tses. Then you don't have to worry about exchanging, trading power etc.
 
e.bram said:
If you like NYC and SF buy NYC and SF Tses. Then you don't have to worry about exchanging, trading power etc.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the reply. I love travelling to NYC and San Francisco, but I hate the high maintenance fees of the TS there. For the Manhattan Club in NYC the MF is about $1600 - $2200 per year. The TS in San Francisco are less expensive, but not by much. I would never buy a TS in SF for a simple reason: earthquakes. If an earthquake damages your TS then you could find a large special assessment in addition to your MF.

From some of the chatter on the BBS, many MC owners are very angry at their management. MF have risen drastically while renovations have not kept pace, so I would not buy MC. I suspect in the next few years that MC owners will be hit with large special assessments to renovate the TS.

I was fortunate enough to book a week at the Manhattan Club with RCI points, about 63,000. I own 2 floating red 3BR units at Rayburn Country Club; these 2 TS give me about 128,000 RCI points for a MF of $832 (2 X $416). Therefore, I booked a week at MC, whose owners pay $1600 - $2200 in MF per week, for the equivalent MF of $416. Yes, its more hassle to book with RCI points, but the savings are worth it to me.
 
I have Dik and RCI points also. I don't think Dik would be a good addition for you if you want to trade to NY and CA. The trade power varies greatly from week to week. I own a red week. Last year, my week trades super good. I could pull everything that shows up on the sightings board. I end up taking a 2 bedroom Grand Cayman for next Spring break. This year, my week pulls extremely poor. I have not been able to pull anything from sightings including bulk deposits. I guess you can still use PFD if you get a week that trades like mine. But is it worth the hassle?
 
Dear Jane:

Thanks for the advice. I think I'll hold off on Dikhololo, unless I get a killer deal. It wouldn't trade for the TS I want, and its trading power seems to have declined. ;)
 
Here's the Manhattan Club on my 2010 Dik Week deposit

1 BR 4 (4) Partial Friday, January 22, 2010 Friday, January 29, 2010
1 BR 4 (4) Partial Friday, January 29, 2010 Friday, February 05, 2010
1 BR 4 (4) Partial Friday, February 05, 2010 Friday, February 12, 2010
1 BR 4 (4) Partial Friday, February 19, 2010 Friday, February 26, 2010
1 BR 4 (4) Partial Friday, February 26, 2010 Friday, March 05, 2010
1 BR 4 (4) Partial Friday, March 26, 2010 Friday, April 02, 2010
1 BR 4 (4) Partial Friday, April 02, 2010 Friday, April 09, 2010
1 BR 4 (4) Partial Friday, April 09, 2010 Friday, April 16, 2010
1 BR 4 (4) Partial Friday, April 16, 2010 Friday, April 23, 2010
1 BR 4 (4) Partial Friday, April 23, 2010 Friday, April 30, 2010
1 BR 4 (4) Partial Friday, April 30, 2010 Friday, May 07, 2010
1 BR 4 (4) Partial Friday, May 07, 2010 Friday, May 14, 2010
1 BR 4 (4) Partial Friday, May 14, 2010 Friday, May 21, 2010
1 BR 4 (4) Partial Friday, May 21, 2010 Friday, May 28, 2010
1 BR 4 (4) Partial Friday, May 28, 2010 Friday, June 04, 2010
1 BR 4 (4) Partial Friday, June 04, 2010 Friday, June 11, 2010
1 BR 4 (4) Partial Friday, June 11, 2010 Friday, June 18, 2010
1 BR 4 (4) Partial Friday, June 18, 2010 Friday, June 25, 2010
 
Wow!

Thanks for the post Reggie. I guess I'm going to have to reconsider Dikhololo. NYC for a MF of $200 or less sounds a lot better than a MF of $1600-2200 at Manhattan Club! :clap:
 
Hi Reggie

Reggie, I have Dikhololo also. For my 2008 week, I got HHV Lagoon Tower. I was happy. For my 2009 week, I got Maui Sunset. I was happy. For my 2010 week, I can't seem to see as many top resorts. Maybe I was too impatient. I went ahead and traded for my daughter's spring break week 2010 at EC, her favorite resort. I was looking for a DVC. I could see DVC all over the place with my RCI points, but NOT with my Dikhololo week at all. None. Can you see DVC with yours? Try January 2010, March 2010, May 2010 for me, wouldja? I'm wondering if I need to be more specific in asking for which week I want deposited. The first two, my broker arranged it. The 2010, I just sent in the generic request, and I did it way early yet, so I was surprised.

My weeks were:
2008: 9/19/08
2009: 10/09/09
2010: 3/19/2010
(at least that's what's listed as "start date" on the exchange details page.)

It would appear to me, totally new here, that the fall weeks trade better than the spring week. What do you think? I checked and the 3/19/2010 was red, though.

Of course, it's all relative. For what I paid for my week, I feel I got complete value in the first two exchanges alone. If I never got anything else stellar with it, the rest is gravy. And I know I can get DVC with my rci points or my Worldmark. I guess that's why I have so many dang timeshares and am still looking for more!

Crystal



Reggie_Hammonds said:
1 BR 4 (4) Partial Friday, January 22, 2010 Friday, January 29, 2010
1 BR 4 (4) Partial Friday, January 29, 2010 Friday, February 05, 2010
1 BR 4 (4) Partial Friday, February 05, 2010 Friday, February 12, 2010
1 BR 4 (4) Partial Friday, February 19, 2010 Friday, February 26, 2010
1 BR 4 (4) Partial Friday, February 26, 2010 Friday, March 05, 2010
1 BR 4 (4) Partial Friday, March 26, 2010 Friday, April 02, 2010
1 BR 4 (4) Partial Friday, April 02, 2010 Friday, April 09, 2010
1 BR 4 (4) Partial Friday, April 09, 2010 Friday, April 16, 2010
1 BR 4 (4) Partial Friday, April 16, 2010 Friday, April 23, 2010
1 BR 4 (4) Partial Friday, April 23, 2010 Friday, April 30, 2010
1 BR 4 (4) Partial Friday, April 30, 2010 Friday, May 07, 2010
1 BR 4 (4) Partial Friday, May 07, 2010 Friday, May 14, 2010
1 BR 4 (4) Partial Friday, May 14, 2010 Friday, May 21, 2010
1 BR 4 (4) Partial Friday, May 21, 2010 Friday, May 28, 2010
1 BR 4 (4) Partial Friday, May 28, 2010 Friday, June 04, 2010
1 BR 4 (4) Partial Friday, June 04, 2010 Friday, June 11, 2010
1 BR 4 (4) Partial Friday, June 11, 2010 Friday, June 18, 2010
1 BR 4 (4) Partial Friday, June 18, 2010 Friday, June 25, 2010
Click to expand...
 
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janej said:
I have Dik and RCI points also. I don't think Dik would be a good addition for you if you want to trade to NY and CA. The trade power varies greatly from week to week. I own a red week. Last year, my week trades super good. I could pull everything that shows up on the sightings board. I end up taking a 2 bedroom Grand Cayman for next Spring break. This year, my week pulls extremely poor. I have not been able to pull anything from sightings including bulk deposits. I guess you can still use PFD if you get a week that trades like mine. But is it worth the hassle?
Click to expand...

Your experience with the Dik weeks exactly mirrors mine. 2009 weeks were the best we ever had pulling Manhattan Club, Hilton West 57th ST and Disney. 2010 weeks can pull none of these.
 
cerralee said:
I have a Mt. Amanzi Peak week-which is not the same as the red flexi weeks. I can see everything-Hawaii, Disney etc., that anyone posts on the sightings boards with my peak week.

I also HAD a red flexi St. Michaels sands week which did OK but just didn't have the oomph that my MA week has. The maintenance fees were close but the trading power was quite different. I sold them.

I have a cheapo Silversands week that doesn't pull worth anything. But my levis are around $100 a year and I use it for last minute exchanges. It does a wee bit better than last minute getaways, that's about it. It does get me a few places I can't get last minute.
Click to expand...

I also have a Mt. Amanzi peak week, and it has always done very well...until this time. I deposited my 2010 week a year ahead, but it is not pulling well at all. I even got in touch with the resort to make sure they deposited the peak week, and they assured me they did, but it doesn't make sense...
Connie
 
1-4 rules for MC

Manhattan Club has a 1-4 rules for RCI exchange even you have a tiger trader. I am not sure if it apply to points exchange since we are only week member.
One of these days we should try to purchase resale points weeks.
 
We can get the Manhattan Club with HGVC points.
Anita
 
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