GadgetRick said:
FF has more ski resorts but still not as many as WM so I'd be exchanging for 85-95% of the travel I'd use it for.
Am I making a bigger deal out of exchanging than I need to be? I just don't want to lose value with the points I've purchased. I also don't want to be forced to take a full week when I only need a few nights or not be able to ever get the resorts I want.The Rickster
Perhaps you should buy at a FF location that has skiing within 30 miles. Fairfield Pagosa would be affordable at resale prices. Buy UDI (undivided interest) points (rather than a fixed week converted to points) at Peregrine or Teal Landing so that you could make an ARP (advance reservation priority) reservation at 10-13 months before checkin for 3, 4 or 7 days. You would need 166K for a prime 2BR for one week at Teal Landing. Peregrine has large 2BR lockoffs at 94.5K for the small side and 105K for the larger side. However, most of ski season (except weeks 51 and 52) is not prime at Pagosa. You could get weeks 1-7 for as little as 126K (Teal Landing) or a 2BR lockoff at Peregrine for 161K.
With FSP (Fairshare Plus, Fairfield points) there is no exchange fee if you exchange to any Fairfield-managed or Fairfield affliate or associate location. For an (ever-increasing, it seems) fee you would be able to exchange via RCI for another ski week. FSP includes an RCI membership so there'd be no additional annual membership fee. There's no guarantee that you will be able to get the high end resorts at prime locations, though. You might ask on the Fairfield_Timeshare Yahoo! group about how well FSP points trade for prime ski weeks out west. If you are interested in buying Fairfield, I would encourage you to join that group before buying. They have databases showing what types of trades members have gotten in RCI using their FSP points.
If you buy from Fairfield or pay a fee (about $2400) you could have the PlusPartners program on your Fairfield account which would allow you to use FSP points to make reservations at RCI Points resorts at 10 months or less before checkin. There would be an exchange fee but it would be less than with the RCI weeks system and you would not have to reserve a whole week.
Another possibility would be an RCI Points resort. You'd still have the option of taking shorter vacations.
The main problems you are likely to encounter with exchanging are
1. RCI's exchange fee
2. Possible lack of availability at the resorts you want to go to
3. Inability to reserve for less than an full week with the RCI exchange system.
The pros are that you might be able to reserve a 1 or 2 BR unit at a less well know ski area in the west with only a 70K Fairfield red studio so that the amount of the RCI exchange fee won't matter so much.
