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DAE anyone

bluehende

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Greetings all.
I was wondering how many people have used DAE recently. It certainly looks enticing with no annual fee and $99 exchange. I will put out what I see as their strengths and weaknesses along with my specific questions. Please comment pro or con.

Strengths

1. cost
2. cost
3. Can be used as an alternative to RCI with an RCI affiliated resort
4. Can trade into many resorts not offered by RCI

weaknesses

1. Not much availability for trade or bonus vacations
2. Small


Questions

I own an RCI affiliated resort that I plan to use 3 out of 4 years but would like to have an option to trade without annual fee outlays. By the time I pay for membership and exchange with RCI it gets prohibitively expensive. Last call or bonus vacations have great appeal to me. Would it be worth it to join RCI jsut for the last call feature that I will take advantage of 1 or 2 times a year? Or should i just join the freebie and hope something comes up in their bonus vacations. I realize that both inventories are for off season lower value weeks.

Thanks for any input
Wayne
 

ttt

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Go with DAE

You deposit with DAE will be good for three years. Last call RCI features are available under similar programs available to the general public. While DAE availability is limited, there are more and more former RCI members making deposits, and some are attractive.
 

Carolinian

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With DAE, you can also get inventory by request that is not in their online inventory but which they can get from their trading partners. One of those is Club La Costa, through which they can get UK canalboats, Austria, French Riviera, etc. Another seems to have good access to some Caribbean inventory. I got Morritts in Grand Cayman that way. Another can get prime inventory in South Africa.

In their own inventory, they take managed European Country Cottages, which can often get you into areas in France and Ireland where there is little or no timeshare.

Most of all, they are member-oriented, unlike the big boys.
 

mamiecarter

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Dae has great California, South Africa,European and australian inventory. It gets good things in the westernstates off and on.

I deposited a week with them on the hopethat I would find a trade I wanted. I live on the East Coast


So I expect to have to wait a long time to luck into anything nearby but I have seen things I was tempted by even in my eastern half of the continent.

What I really wan't to use DAE for is my next long trip to an area they have alot of inventory in. Like spend a Summer in Australia or South Africa or go to Spain and portugal for two winter months. I have asked DAE about this on the telephone and they say no problem. They can even find me enough bonus time to fill in the gaps where I don't have enough weeks. As soon as I retire....which is soon..Dae can be my travel agent. Beats giving weeks away to RCI.
 

JudyS

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I doubt that the inventory at DAE will meet all your needs, although I don't know that for a fact.

On the other hand, DAE has request first, with no penalties. If I were you, I'd try both RCI & DAE, putting in one or more requests with DAE.

RCI has been changing Last Call recently, but I think RCI still has quite a lot of cheap bonus/last call weeks. I'd try RCI for a year or two, if I were you.
 

Carolinian

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With DAE you need to put in a request to really see what they can do, rather than rely on just what is online. They have a number of trading partners where they can get inventory that will never appear online. They got a friend of mine summer weeks in Myrtle Beach two years running with requests he put in. They got me summer on the French Riveria that way, too.
 

BocaBum99

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In my limited experience with DAE, I find that they have the best customer service in the industry. However, they have the worst online availability as well.

Their policy of anything in gets anything out is a good one for a small company. However, that policy is unsustainable unless they want to remain a small niche player.

I agree that by knowing what people have and what they want, they can act as a market maker for timesharing exchange. There is money is horse trading. In order to become mainstream, they will need to do more and probably have to either implement trading power formulas or a point system of some type.
 

Cappy

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It has the best service!!

I'm a HGVC owner & I have given them 3 of my weeks!! They could get a unit at Morritt's that RCI couldn't get! They sometimes call & ask me if I could get a certain week for them!!!! So they are trying HARD to fill what you need or want! They also tell me up front if a trade is too hard to get! (they will say we can try but you may want to have a plan B also!) Having 3 years to use my unit is even better. But the 3 years start when you make the deposit & the early you do it the better for them & I think the better service! You wash my back & I'll do yours! :p All just my opinion but you did ask for it!
 

Carolinian

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BocaBum99 said:
In my limited experience with DAE, I find that they have the best customer service in the industry. However, they have the worst online availability as well.

Their policy of anything in gets anything out is a good one for a small company. However, that policy is unsustainable unless they want to remain a small niche player.

I agree that by knowing what people have and what they want, they can act as a market maker for timesharing exchange. There is money is horse trading. In order to become mainstream, they will need to do more and probably have to either implement trading power formulas or a point system of some type.

Oh, but it is sustainable. They are a big dog on their home turf in Australia, and their system is proven there. In fact, another large independent there, Interchange, operates the same way.

Try for an Australian or New Zealand exchange sometime, and see who gets you more choices - DAE or RCI.
 
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