The TUG Sightings forum will give you some ideal on what is possible with the exchange companies. If you can travel anytime during the year, there is some good availability. The key is flexibility.
Booking a timeshare is not like booking a hotel where there's lots of availability. Instead of determining where and when you want to go (like a hotel reservation), with timesharing sometimes your choices for when/where may be driven by whatever is available. The TUG Sighting Forum is great for that.
TUG Members also have access to the TUG Resort Database where you can view Resort Rankings and Reivews.
Ongoing searches only applies to RCI WEEKS Inventory. If you want to get the jump on inventory as soon as it becomes available it's in your best interest to create an ongoing search.
Keep in mind, for RCI POINTS Inventory you have to search online and exchange availability changes daily. Sometimes units are gone within minutes, hours, days and/or weeks after becoming available online. It varies based on resort/location demand, number of units available and travel dates available.
Here's what I wrote in another thread
In order to get a great trade with any timeshare exchange company you need to understand how it works. Some folks start their request too late and/or have unrealistic expectations that anytime they want to travel a week will be available. Once you understand how exchanging works, you'll be better prepared.
It is important to understand that exchangers only have access to what is deposited and not all weeks are deposited. The number of deposits by each resort varies. You will have no idea how many weeks are actually deposited in RCI (for example it could be 1, 10, 30, 60 or 100s), what time of year they make deposits, which weeks do they deposit (Winter, Spring, Fall or Summer week) and where are you in the exchange queue (there could be several folks already ahead of you requesting the same location with equal trading power).
Some destinations will be harder to exchange into than others. It depends on supply and demand. There will be lots of competition for high demand resorts/location during the peak travel seasons. There will be lots of exchange competition at destinations were most folks want to visit (beach areas in the summer, major city, ski resorts during ski season, national park areas, etc). One should expect high owner occupancy during this time which generally means less exchange deposits (NOTE: Some timeshares owners would rather rent their high demand week than deposit it with an exchange company).
With exchange requests, it's best to be as flexible as possible on your requested unit size (there is more competition for larger unit sizes) and travel dates (like any time during the year) and even then you may not snag a week at your requested resort.
With RCI, it's wise to always research the properties that are listed in the RCI Directory to make sure it meets your vacation needs in terms of location, quality, amenities, etc. Depending on the RCI choices, you may decide to visit this location via some other means (hotel/resort stay, etc).
You can sometimes find reviews on RCI, Tripadvisor, Yelp, various travel related sites and from other fellow TUG members by searching the forums or by accessing the TUG Resort Database.
Keep in mind that RCI trading is not cheap. In addition to your annual maintenance fee, you'll have to pay an RCI exchange fee (currently $239 for a one week stay) and sometimes a resort/housekeeping fee. These fees will continue to rise.
For example, currently a Disney World trade it's an additional $429 dollars ($239 RCI exchange fee + $190 Disney Resort Fee).
