I made my first exchange!

[bugzapper]

I just received confirmation on my first-ever exchange, through Interval! It is a 2 bedroom Christmas week at the Royal Haciendas in Playa del Carmen.

Thanks to all of you for the wonderful advice you've given on this website. A special thank-you to Cindy (of rickandcindy23) for helping me through the process of acquiring a timeshare, getting an account set up with II and generally giving me the confidence to actually go through with the deal!

Now I just need to get passports for the kids. I sure hope I will be able to find affordable airfare next year and that I will actually have a job to pay for everything! I'm hoping to supplement this vacation with a New Year's week, maybe in Cancun!

 

[tombo]

Your first exchange is like the first hit on a crack pipe. The joy and elation you receive from that first trade makes you want that high again. You will probably buy more weeks and make more trades. In the not too distant future your friends that don't own timeshares will seem like they are weird. You will shun them and their anti-timeshare attitudes and instead gravitate to the welcoming company of other timeshare addicts. Soon you will spend hours looking at e-bay timeshare auctions, perusing REDWEEK ads, and you won't be able go to sleep at night or wake up in the morning and drink a cup of coffee before you see what is happening on tug. Welcome! We are all sick and you are on your way to becoming one of us.

 

[Steve]

Way to go

Congratulations, Keith! I wish you many happy timeshare vacations with your family. It's a fun way to travel.

Steve

 

[djs]

Congrats. I always enjoy telling people about the exchanges I get. For me it's a "game" in that I get satisfaction out of saying "if we had booked this from the resort we'd pay $800+ a night" when my total cost after including MF, exchange fee, II membership is around $600 for the whole week. I think my best exchange was when I used the studio half of my lock-off for a 2B at the Westin Kierland Villas. Flexibility and a willingness (and of course ability) to travel on off times is key here.

 

[rickandcindy23]

Yay, Keith. So glad you are enjoying that wonderful timeshare purchase! You can't beat the price or the fees, considering that bonus week (AC) you can use. I was able to get one of my kids a week at Grand Timber Lodge in Breck (2 bedroom), starting today, with that AC! I have a happy son today.

 

[bugzapper]

Yay, Keith. So glad you are enjoying that wonderful timeshare purchase! You can't beat the price or the fees, considering that bonus week (AC) you can use. I was able to get one of my kids a week at Grand Timber Lodge in Breck (2 bedroom), starting today, with that AC! I have a happy son today.

Cindy,

Your son should have a great week of skiing! The forecast is for snow all weekend, so conditions should be good in Breckenridge. I haven't decided yet what to do with that AC. It would have been nice to use for Cancun (December is on the AC schedule), but my AC expires next November. (I should have mentioned my week is for 2009.) I'm thinking fall break in California...

 

[rwpeterson]

Denver to Cancun

Keith, congrats on an excellent first trade!

We just returned from the Royal Sands. We're fellow Coloradoans and flew to Cancun out of DIA on Frontier. Other than the 2 hour snow delay (not their fault!) the non-stop flight was great. We recommend packing some snacks. Their snack prices are high and they run out of them half way through the plane.

I watched prices on Expedia and at 7 months out bought directly from Frontier at about $10 less than the best Expedia price. We normally don't purchase travel insurance but I did this time since I was booking so far in advance. We didn't need it but at least it gave me some peace of mind to go ahead and book early.

We're going to the Royal Mayan in June. We're thinking about flying one day early and staying in a hotel on Friday night so we can have a full week at the Royals. We don't want to lose any time there. Even if we can't check in until the afternoon, we can hang out at the pools all afternoon. Royal resorts are fantastic. You're going to have a great time.

Wendy