Exchange at [timeshares] not treated fair.

[armrecsys]

I have use my timeshare for over 30 years.
I have all seen all changes non for the better for timeshare users.

1, why is it when we exchange in to a time share we become a bottom of the bag person.
2 If we want a better room we have to attend a timeshare presentation .
3. We have to talk to the manager and negotiate a different room
4. So unfair.
5. RCI has become useless.

 

[Hindsite]

1. Just how the system works. I'd be proper irritated if someone who owns a $500/year resort and got an exchange into my home resort that has $2000/year MF and they got better unit allocation that I did staying on my owned week. Its bad enough that renters get the owner assigned unit allocation, but at least that is like for like.
2. If you want a better room, book a better room and pay for it.
3. Great if you can do it, often you can't.
4. Much of life is unfair.
5. Possibly, particularly if your needs have changed.

 

[tschwa2]

I have always felt with rci and II, that I shouldn't exchange into a resort if I wasn't going to be ok on my vacation being in the worst view/location in the resort. Expect the worst but hope for something better than the worst. I never felt like you should be treated the same as the owners.

If I want a particular view, I either research to find resorts that only have the view I want in the size I am booking, or I don't book through rci.

 

[armrecsys]

Hi I agree with you that I don’t want someone who payed 500/yr and get a 2000/yr. Timeshare.
But that is what RCI/II are for. Not letting trades go thru that are not same level.
So when I put my 200/yr in RCI / II I expect a better treatment.

 

[bnoble]

Well, you are not going to get it. So, your choices are: continue as you are with adjusted expectations, continue as you are and continue being upset, or sell.

 

[Hindsite]

So when I put my 200/yr in RCI / II I expect a better treatment.

You do get better treatment by II, you get better trading power. It doesn't mean that you should get better treatment via the resort, they don't know what you submitted as am exchange, they just know it was an II reservation.

 

[bizaro86]

I agree from a fairness point of view exchangers really should get the same unit the owner gave up.

However basically no resorts do that, and complaining is unlikely to change it, so from a practical point of view either the current system works for you or it doesn't. If it doesn't you should stop using it.

 

[Panina]

It has been like this for many years. It is the pitfalls of trading.

 

[jwalk03]

Personally I don’t get worked up about my view. I don’t spend that much time in the room.

Now if I do an exchange and get a lucky view great! But it certainly won’t make or break my stay either way.

It’s just not possible for everyone to get the best view every time.

 

[klpca]

The best way to help yourself is to read and reread the TUG reviews with a critical eye. If view is your top concern, check out the reviews to see if there have been complaints from other exchangers. You can also post on the TUG forum about a specific resort and ask about others experiences. Otherwise, it's always a bit of a crapshoot. If it eases the pain just a bit, not too many people are getting away with $500/year maintenance fees these days. My most affordable trader is now pushing $1,000 per week, and when added to an exchange fee and potentially a size upgrade fee and resort fee before you know it it's the same cost as owning without any owner benefits. Uncertainty is the price we pay when exchanging. Your best defense is to have as much information as possible before you accept an exchange.

 

[armrecsys]

Reading up on the place you want to trade into helps a lot.
I look at the rooms they are given and how they are treated.
The one thing I can’t understand is . If they don’t have a better room, but if you waste your time and go to the timeshare presentation we can look at giving you a room where you won’t be looking at the trash cans.

Yes it looks like ownership turning out be the best deal.
So good by RCI and II

 

[armrecsys]

Personally I don’t get worked up about my view. I don’t spend that much time in the room.

Now if I do an exchange and get a lucky view great! But it certainly won’t make or break my stay either way.

It’s just not possible for everyone to get the best view every time.

Sounds like going on a cruise, I say the room and the location matters.

 

[davidvel]

Sounds like going on a cruise, I say the room and the location matters.

Then go to a resort with view categories that you pay to reserve. You are not getting this with a trade, regardless of how much you want it.

 

[tschwa2]

Reading up on the place you want to trade into helps a lot.
I look at the rooms they are given and how they are treated.
The one thing I can’t understand is . If they don’t have a better room, but if you waste your time and go to the timeshare presentation we can look at giving you a room where you won’t be looking at the trash cans.

Yes it looks like ownership turning out be the best deal.
So good by RCI and II

If the aspect that they will give you an upgrade if you attend a sales presentation bothers you, look for resorts that aren't in active sales. The ones in active sales (that offer upgrades) allow the sales team to block them off. As much as you are bothered, imagine that you bought in and then when you came back to stay in your home resort, the good views were held not for owners, even ones willing to attend for a better location, but instead reserved for exchangers that were willing to attend a presentation.

 

[dioxide45]

I am not awere of many (or any) resorts that use unit assignment as a carrot on a stick for a timeshare presentation. The only exception may be Vidanta.

 

[beejaybee]

Currently at Holiday Inn Apple Mountain Resort in Georgia. We were asked if we'd be ok with a 3rd floor unit.
At Worldmark Big Bear Lake we were offered a choice of units. Same at Regal Vistas Massanutten.
Thinking back to all our exchanges I cannot recall being relegated to the worst of the worst.
FWIW our annual maintenance fee is below $500/year.
Ridiculous to think that resorts should rank and assign incoming exchangers units based on what fee their home resort charges. If you feel you are not getting good value for exchanging your resort with its exorbitant fees then use your week yourself.

 

[armrecsys]

You do get better treatment by II, you get better trading power. It doesn't mean that you should get better treatment via the resort, they don't know what you submitted as am exchange, they just know it was an II reservation.

Ok I didn’t the resort did know what you traded. Good information

 

[rickandcindy23]

I will take the worst view on Maui to get anything on Maui that is 4-5 star. Island view is fine because I know what owners are paying for that island view (same as owners with ocean view and oceanfront view). I have exchanged into Westin Nanea with some pretty low MF's one bedrooms (Sheraton Broadway).

I am bugged by $25 per day fees charged by resorts that have nothing to offer for that fee (no shuttles to parks from Hiltons). If you aren't going to do anything for the extra fee, I am sure not going to stay at your lousy resort via exchange.

 

[dougp26364]

I have use my timeshare for over 30 years.
I have all seen all changes non for the better for timeshare users.

1, why is it when we exchange in to a time share we become a bottom of the bag person.
2 If we want a better room we have to attend a timeshare presentation .
3. We have to talk to the manager and negotiate a different room
4. So unfair.
5. RCI has become useless.

If I exchanged into a resort you own, I bet you’d be screaming at the front desk if, as an exchanger, I got the premier view and you received the dumpster view?

We’ve owned since 1998. It’s ALWAYS been this way. At our home resorts we get preferential unit assignments. That’s the reason we bought into those resorts. It’s why the majority of our ownership is through Marriott. When we trade into a resort we don’t own, we get what we get. It’s why we don’t trade that often and stay within the groups that we own.

You’ve owned for 30 years and this just now becomes a problem?

 

[NiKan]

I have use my timeshare for over 30 years.
I have all seen all changes non for the better for timeshare users.

1, why is it when we exchange in to a time share we become a bottom of the bag person.
2 If we want a better room we have to attend a timeshare presentation .
3. We have to talk to the manager and negotiate a different room
4. So unfair.
5. RCI has become useless.

We’ve gotten blessed with great rooms at all of our RCI exchanges so I imagine being relegated to the worst room is based on availability

Honestly, it doesn’t make sense to me that my 122,000 point Grandview Las Vegas 2br for $950 MF trades into a 34,000 point Penthouse at the Quarter House in NOLA, a 17,000 point 1br at Smugglers Cove in Anna Maria Island, and a 69,000 point studio at the Hilton West 57th St in NYC. Not to mention the retail value if you booked cash rates

From my perspective, with the value I get from exchanging even if I get the occasional bad room, I’m still coming out way ahead