You are so welcome. Welcome to TUG. I am sorry that I didn't notice before that you had already joined.
There are many great sections on TUG. The sightings section is where people list available exchanges on II and RCI as soon as they appear. Often a resort will deposit a bulk banking and there are TUG members who peruse the site constantly all day and night who will let you know so you can grab one before it is gone.
The last minute rentals here are rentals for $700 or less for a week. It is a great place to pick up some great weeks if you can travel last minute.
The resort ratings will give you an idea of what any resort you are interested in visiting is like. There are reviews detailing the resorts and rankings based on owner reviews. Treat it kind of like they do gymnastic scores (throw out the lows and highs). Some people will give a resort a low rating because they got mad at a front desk person and the resort is actually great, and some people will give really high scores because they own there. I try to go with the majority view to pick a resort.
Ask questions here about resorts, destinations, what to do, where to eat, etc. I am typing this from the Sheraton Vistana in Orlando where I am staying on RCI trade. There are many sections and so I asked TUGGERs which section I should stay in. I got many suggestions and chose what the majority seemed to like. What everyone told me was that I needed to get a renovated room. I called the resort about a month in advance, I asked for the Lakes section in a renovated room, and when I checked in I said I was hoping you could get me a renovated room in the Lakes section, and she said I see that in the notes, let me see what I can do. I am sitting in a wonderful renovated room in the Lakes section. Without TUG I can assure you that I would have been in an older room because I wouldn't have known to ask for the renovated room in advance. The 2 bed room unit is huge, sleeps 8, has 3 flat screen TV's, is impeccably decorated, and the resort is a place I wish I could come back to next year (can't come back for 4 years because of the 1 in 4 rule). Thanks to TUG I am in a fantastic room and a great section of the resort.
E-bay is the best place to buy weeks currently IMO, and wherever you buy another week, buy t resale, never buy from a developer. If you would like another week somewhere, you can buy good weeks at good resorts on E-bay currently from $1 to $500. Ask questions here on how to buy on e-bay, who to buy from on e-bay, and what is a good price for a particular resort during certain dates. Many here can help. Just be careful because it can become addictive. They are so cheap to buy that you can overbuy like I did. I have weeks in the mountains, on the beach, in the carribbean. Heck I have more weeks than I can use and am still tempted to buy more so I try not to even look at timeshares for sale on e-bay lest I buy another.
Welcome and feel free to ask me or anyone else here any questions. Most will gladly help and everyone has different areas of expertise. I know a lot about Festiva (and it is all bad) because I own at Blue Ridge Village and I have researched their actions at other resorts, but I don't own any points of any kind so I know very little about other points. Some TUGGER own millions of Wyndham points, tens of thousands of RCI points, hundreds of DVC points, etc. There are people here who know so much about how points work that they can talk circles around timeshare salesmen.
Read, learn, enjoy, and once again welcome.
