From your experience, given the following how would you to try for a SF exchange

[Iwant2gonow]

I have an RCI membership good through 2020. I have been saving my TPU’s in RCI thinking that I would put in OGS for San Fran 2017 May through Oct any dates. I was about to add my 2016 studio at Mt View at Crown Ridge in NH to raise my TPU total to 45 I thought. Recently found out RCI lowered TPU’s to 8 not 10 so would only bring my total to 43.
At this point I am disillusioned with RCI and don’t want to add more weeks to my account. I went online to SFX and almost submitted my studio for deposit but thought I better talk to a rep first (could not believe it autocompleted my timeshare, thought this was a sign they would take it). I called on Fri and learned about the great pricing offer they have going for Diamond memberships and mentioned what I wanted to deposit and trade for. Rep sounded like there was a chance the 2017 SF exchange could be possible. I almost deposited and almost purchased the Diamond membership but told rep I wanted to look over the website and would call back. Now I realize without a deposit I can’t research what kind of inventory they have in the event they can’t fulfil my first choice. I have searched for SFX info on tugs and timeshare forums and most posts are old but most say they won’t take most studios. Of course they are closed for the weekend so I cannot find out more. I do know they have a lot of Mexico availability which I am not interested in. I saw they have Santa Fe listed in directory and would like to go there, 2nd choice, but don’t know if this is as hard a trade as SF?
In the past I have made successful exchanges with RCI, TPI, and one with DAE, all to various locations with this timeshare and with Vistana. I have used II intermittently with Vistana but don’t think they will exchange my NH units. I never tried SFX because I did not think they would accept my NH timeshare because of their reputation for top tier timeshares. My NH timeshare recently downgraded to Hospitality from Silver Crown (even though offered Silver, too long for here).
Please tell me how you might proceed or if any of these smaller companies have been successful for you for a trade into SF. If you think RCI is my best bet how many TPUs do you think it would take? I asked RCI rep and he said since there are none available he could not tell me how many are needed.

 

[tschwa2]

If you are willing to take a studio sleeps 2, I don't think you will have a problem with SF with RCI if you start an ongoing search with 43 for your dates. RCI gets a lot less sleeps 4 studios and 1 br's but you still might match for one of those as well since you are starting early.

With the exception of studios in places like NYC, SF and prime premium level ski locations, SFX will not accept studios. I am not sure if they would accept the larger unit at your resort. You would want to verify that. SFX has almost no inventory online. So even with a deposit of a platinum membership in place, it wouldn't help.

 

[falmouth3]

Almost none of SFX inventory is online so it won't help to search. I did an online search for all of 2016 and found nearly nothing.

I had no problem getting a 1 BR SF from SFX, although I did need to request it, no selecting from online inventory. If they don't have what you're looking for, sometimes they have other avenues to get what you need. Wait until Monday and see if they'll take what you have to exchange, and with a lot of disclaimers, they will also tell you if you're likely to get what you need as an exchange.

By the way, I requested a specific week for Albuquerque or Santa Fe so that I could attend the Balloon Fiesta in October. I did get an exact exchange for the week I wanted in Santa Fe. So chances for Santa Fe may also be good through SFX.

I only have 2 BR weeks for deposit, but I'm willing to take 1 BR if it's the week and location I want. They usually will not take a studio, but it's been known to happen so it's worth checking.

 

[DaveNV]

My experience using SFX is that you need to ask for what you want. The stuff online is like that in RCI - it's the leftovers. Just naming a resort on their website doesn't mean they have inventory available. I know they do a lot of horse trading with other exchange companies, so chances are good they can get what you want, if they know far enough in advance.

Dave

 

[John Cummings]

SFX is very strong in San Francisco.

 

[presley]

If you want SF, SFX is the way to go. The company was started for owners of SF timeshares. They have lots of deposits. Searching online is normally futile, though. You need to put in an ongoing request. All that said, if you only have a studio to deposit, they probably won't take it. You can deposit a larger unit from a future year.

 

[John Cummings]

Whether SFX will take a studio or not depends on where it is at and the season. SFX has personal relationships with some of the San Francisco timeshares if not all. A few years ago, They got me a 1BR at Nob Hill in August with just 1 weeks notice for $50 night.

The OP needs to talk to them to see if they will accept the studio.

 

[Iwant2gonow]

Whether SFX will take a studio or not depends on where it is at and the season. SFX has personal relationships with some of the San Francisco timeshares if not all. A few years ago, They got me a 1BR at Nob Hill in August with just 1 weeks notice for $50 night.

The OP needs to talk to them to see if they will accept the studio.

Wow that's some deal!
Thanks for your replies. I'm going to call them this afternoon to see if they will take the studio or even the larger units I own. If they do I then have to figure out if there is any extra benefit to me purchasing the Diamond membership at this time since I want to travel before the 2 yr expiration of my deposit. I will not use the extra vacations while I am still an RCI member since it seems RCI has them mostly beat there price wise.
Any real benefit then to me purchasing Diamond to reach my original goal of a trade to SF?

 

[Iwant2gonow]

I just got off the phone with SFX and they did take my studio in NH. The rep advised me that they recently changed their rules and accept all resorts now!

Besides the free 6 month Diamond membership they have a very good special going on for 3, 5, and 10 year memberships. I decided not to purchase until I see how this deposit works out.
Will start the OGS after I have a chance to look at the resort locations but will post the results if they fulfill the exchange or not.

Thank you to everyone who helped with my decision.

 

[Iwant2gonow]

I deposited my NH Studio about a week ago and that went smoothly.

Today I called to put in my exchange request. Originally I thought I would search for Aug, Sept, and Oct of 2017 but decided to include those same months in 2016. While I was on the phone setting up the request with Darcy, a rep I have spoken with several times since I decided to try SFX she immediately offered me the choice of 3 different weeks in San Francisco. :whoopie:
Two of the choices were in my exact range of dates. I chose Club Donatello in Aug 2016!
Thank you to everyone who advised me and to anyone who has been on the fence about trying SFX. I can't tell you how nice it is to have someone with a name, an extension, and an email who gets back to you within an hour or two. Comparing them to RCI of course. I do like that RCI has everything online to view but I think I can get used to this and possibly like it more