exchanging still working for us

[jjking42]

I booked this trip for my business partner for 2011

Yes you have to plan ahead and the more options you have the better. But we have booked a great trip for next year for a fraction of the cash price.

Trade with Rci
HHV Kalia tower 1 bedroom
check in 6/18/11
traded IPV

Trade with SFX
Point at poipu 2 bedroom
check in 6/25/11
Traded wyndham Alexandria

4 round trip tickets to HNL free with FF miles

total cost for 2 weeks in hawaii 1700.00
1200.00 MF
400.00 exchange fee
100.00 airline booking fees

I check the cash price for the exact flight and condo reservations for next summer and it was over $ 10,000.00

Of course he will need to save another 3-5 thousand for other expenses. Car rental, flights between islands, helicoptor rides and other things.

But me talking him in to buying timeshares on the resale market has been the best thing to happen for their family vacations. They would never vacation like this otherwise.

Of course i do all the searching and booking for both his family and mine so its really easy for him. We started using ff credit cards for business after we got in to timeshares, so we share the ff miles

 

[Discover10]

I booked this trip for my business partner for 2011

Yes you have to plan ahead and the more options you have the better. But we have booked a great trip for next year for a fraction of the cash price.

Trade with Rci
HHV Kalia tower 1 bedroom
check in 6/18/11
traded IPV

Trade with SFX
Point at poipu 2 bedroom
check in 6/25/11
Traded wyndham Alexandria

4 round trip tickets to HNL free with FF miles

total cost for 2 weeks in hawaii 1700.00
1200.00 MF
400.00 exchange fee
100.00 airline booking fees

I check the cash price for the exact flight and condo reservations for next summer and it was over $ 10,000.00

10 K for 2 weeks ? That's an exaggeration .

 

[jjking42]

10 K for 2 weeks ? That's an exaggeration .

you could do it for less but the exact same flights and weeks were around 10,000 ( see below)

the 10,000 includes airfare

Average Fare per Person: Departure - 783.49 USD Return - 344.25 USD
Passenger Type Used in Pricing Adult
Departure Fare per Person 783.49 USD
Return Fare per Person 344.25 USD
Total Fare per Person
1127.74 USD

Additional Taxes and Fees per Person * 48.30 USD
Total Price per Person
1176.04 USD

Number of Passengers X 4
Total Price 4704.16 USD




Hilton Grand Vacations Suites at Hilton Hawaiian Village

2003 Kalia Road, Honolulu, Hawaii 96815
1-808-953-2700
Stay Information
Edit
Check-in:
Check-out:
Rooms:
Guests per Room: Sat 18 Jun 2011
Sat 25 Jun 2011
1 Room
2 Adults , 2 Children


Room Type Preferences:
Non-Smoking
Your room type preferences will be submitted with your reservation and are subject to hotel availability.
Room / Rate Information
Edit
Room Description:

1 KING BED SOFABED LAGOON TOWER GARDEN VW

Rate Type:

BEST AVAILABLE RATE
Rate per Night (USD) 279.00 Total For Stay

Rate (USD) 1953.00
Taxes 272.83
Total 2225.83


Total For Stay
Property Name:

Point at Poipu
(Click here for Hotel Photos & Description)
Room Category:

Two Bdrm Garden View Condo
Check-in Date:

Jun 25, 2011
Check-out Date:

Jul 02, 2011
Our Best Price:
$2474.96 + $332.04 Hotel Taxes = $2807.00 Total

 

[Icc5]

Got exchange

We put it with RCI for a Resort near Atlanta (Villa Rica I believe it's called) and just were confirmed it. We really wanted this one and it seemed we wouldn't get it. We were starting to think we needed to change our plans if we were going to see our daughter and grandaughter near Atlanta.
Thank you RCI for pulling through on this one. Important to us.
We have been pretty lucky with RCI and of the 100 or so exchanges we only had to settle for less maybe two times.
Bart

 

[Bearvet]

I also had a great trade experience to Hawaii which we planned 2 years in advance (using RCI weeks). We have 4 weeks TS in Ft Myers Beach and the other couple has 2 weeks at the same resort. The frustrating thing is that we had ongoing searches for locations and were willing to take a hotel room in trade for our 2 bedroom. My friend spotted units available online and we grabbed them, but we were never notified about them. Not sure what happenend there, but it all worked out in the end.

6/25-7/2 2010 Royal Garden Waikiki, Oahu - 2 hotel units
7/2 - 7/9 2010 Kona Coast Resort, Big Island - 1 1-bedroom and 1 2-bedroom
7/9 - 7/16 2010 Maui Sunset Resort 1 2-bedroom
Kahana Falls (Maui) 1 1-bedroom

The last week is the only time we didn't manage to get in the same location. These may not have been top resorts, but we were more than happy - hey we're in Hawaii!

We also had credit card points for air, so our flights from the east coast cost us $150 each (fly into Honolulu, fly out of Maui).

I don't factor in MFs - I have to pay them no matter what I do with my units!

If I may ask, what credit card do you use for ff miles?

 

[hjtug]

If I may ask, what credit card do you use for ff miles?

This topic may be worth its own thread, if one doesn't already exist.

We have had good experience with Citicard. We started with a regular card that has no annual fee. It not only awards one point for each dollar charged but also awards points for each mile flown on any airline ticket purchased with the card for any traveler. Each point is worth one cent toward a ticket puchased through Expedia. Later, we upgraded to elite level. It has an annual fee ($70, I believe) but awards two points for gasoline and groceries. It also has a feature which supposedly awards free companion tickets but when I looked into the details it seemed rather difficult to take advantage of it.

 

[rickandcindy23]

Capital One Venture card is great. You earn double miles. I spend quite a bit on our card. For a $200 plane ticket, any airline, any dates, I only have to spend $10K on the card. If it's a Hawaii ticket for $540, I only have to spend $27K on the card.

You buy the airline ticket with the card, then they reimburse you. no blackouts, my choice of any airline, and I get the best price possible because I find the ticket myself.

Added bonus: I don't have to pay foreign transaction fees with the card, either.

 

[Discover10]

I also had a great trade experience to Hawaii which we planned 2 years in advance (using RCI weeks). We have 4 weeks TS in Ft Myers Beach and the other couple has 2 weeks at the same resort. The frustrating thing is that we had ongoing searches for locations and were willing to take a hotel room in trade for our 2 bedroom. My friend spotted units available online and we grabbed them, but we were never notified about them. Not sure what happenend there, but it all worked out in the end.

6/25-7/2 2010 Royal Garden Waikiki, Oahu - 2 hotel units
7/2 - 7/9 2010 Kona Coast Resort, Big Island - 1 1-bedroom and 1 2-bedroom
7/9 - 7/16 2010 Maui Sunset Resort 1 2-bedroom
Kahana Falls (Maui) 1 1-bedroom

The last week is the only time we didn't manage to get in the same location. These may not have been top resorts, but we were more than happy - hey we're in Hawaii!

We also had credit card points for air, so our flights from the east coast cost us $150 each (fly into Honolulu, fly out of Maui).

I don't factor in MFs - I have to pay them no matter what I do with my units!

If I may ask, what credit card do you use for ff miles?

I'm jealous now

I did a 3 weeks a couple years back that included 1 week inter-island cruise ( traded one RCI week for it, which I don't recommend , cash would have been better ), 4 weeks sounds great.

 

[hjtug]

Capital One Venture card is great. You earn double miles. I spend quite a bit on our card. For a $200 plane ticket, any airline, any dates, I only have to spend $10K on the card. If it's a Hawaii ticket for $540, I only have to spend $27K on the card.

You buy the airline ticket with the card, then they reimburse you. no blackouts, my choice of any airline, and I get the best price possible because I find the ticket myself.

Added bonus: I don't have to pay foreign transaction fees with the card, either.

It sounds like you get 2 cents toward a ticket for each dollar charged which seems very good. We had a Capital One card a few years ago on which we could get up to 2 cents toward a ticket per dollar charged but they gradually reduced that to under 1 cent. What really annoyed me was that each time they reduced the payoff it was hidden in a package of changes which they touted as improving things for the cardholder.

 

[jjking42]

we get miles on three different cards

1. Southwest chase card
this is best for domestic flights
It is 1 domestic round trip for every $19,200 spent


2. Citi Business card
American airlines 1 round trip for $25,000 spent
Hawaii 1 round trip for $ 45,000.00 spent.
I try to use these miles for Hawaii but sometimes we use them for domestic also.


3. Chase card
The nice thing about this is any airline will do
we don't use it much but I did get two tickets this year.

 

[janna1]

you could do it for less but the exact same flights and weeks were around 10,000 ( see below)

the 10,000 includes airfare

Average Fare per Person: Departure - 783.49 USD Return - 344.25 USD
Passenger Type Used in Pricing Adult
Departure Fare per Person 783.49 USD
Return Fare per Person 344.25 USD
Total Fare per Person
1127.74 USD

Additional Taxes and Fees per Person * 48.30 USD
Total Price per Person
1176.04 USD

Number of Passengers X 4
Total Price 4704.16 USD

That's nothing to do with the timeshare or exchange. If you don't have the FF, you still need to pay for it.

 

[rickandcindy23]

It sounds like you get 2 cents toward a ticket for each dollar charged which seems very good. We had a Capital One card a few years ago on which we could get up to 2 cents toward a ticket per dollar charged but they gradually reduced that to under 1 cent. What really annoyed me was that each time they reduced the payoff it was hidden in a package of changes which they touted as improving things for the cardholder.

Capital One is advertising that Venture card big time, so if they don't follow through, I will be very disappointed. I keep getting a statement that seems correct, so I assume I am getting my double miles. I hope it's going to be like this for a long time; otherwise, I will get a Southwest card. I also like Alaska, but hey, I need to get the double miles, and Alaska doesn't have it.

 

[RIMike]

Timesharing: Working for me too!

I am just back from the Canadian Rockies where a group of ten: 5 adults and 5 kids spent the week for $3,800 all total...that includes the two Timeshares at Banff Gate Mountain Resort, airfare for 2 (Delta Companion Ticket) driving for the rest (different locations)gas, meal money & hotels while driving, one day of white water rafting, dinning out and meals in and a rental car for "Great Uncle Mike" who paid for the trip...I think I did pretty well!

Next Timeshare trip is to Hawaii WITHOUT kids!