Low TDI Willow Ridge Week - any good places to trade? Hidden gems?

[Daytripz]

I just recently took over my mom's timeshares. She has a very low TDI week at Willow Ridge that just got deposited into II. It went in as a 2 bedroom.

Has anyone had a great trade on a low TDI that pleasantly surprised you? I don't want this week to go to waste, but I also want to be realistic. We can make any travel date/season/place work.

Thanks for any suggestions!

 

[rickandcindy23]

Enter an ongoing search and you might be pleasantly surprised.

 

[noreenkate]

- I had an early week in May locked off and deposited the studio into II the same day I booked it and traded for DVC OKW studio for me that was decent.

 

[Daytripz]

- I had an early week in May locked off and deposited the studio into II the same day I booked it and traded for DVC OKW studio for me that was decent.

Well that is encouraging, thank you for the input!

 

[Daytripz]

Enter an ongoing search and you might be pleasantly surprised.

I do love a good surprise! I have a few places I'd love to go, I just wanted to adjust my expectations so I don't become one of those "I can never trade for anything good" people.

 

[Hindsite]

My low TDI 2-bed MVC trades very well for us, and has done for 20 years, we regularly get exchanges in higher seasons for 2-beds. January in the Caribbean at Hyatt and MVC, May and Oct in Europe. I request early (12-9 months ahead) and have a window of 3-4 weeks in the requests, but very specific resorts. MVC preference in II helps a lot.

 

[Daytripz]

My low TDI 2-bed MVC trades very well for us, and has done for 20 years, we regularly get exchanges in higher seasons for 2-beds. January in the Caribbean at Hyatt and MVC, May and Oct in Europe. I request early (12-9 months ahead) and have a window of 3-4 weeks in the requests, but very specific resorts. MVC preference in II helps a lot.

Thank you for your reply. This is great news! I did wonder how much MVC preference would help. This is encouraging.

 

[dioxide45]

It should do fairly well with some persistence or OGS. We have traded with low TDI weeks to Aruba and DVC.

 

[Dean]

You didn't say which week or how low. Just have reasonable expectations of getting shoulder season or easy to exchange to places or possibly short notice options. This is unlikely to get you top options during peak times in advance. Be aware that trade power is still a thing even during the MVC preference period.

 

[Daytripz]

You didn't say which week or how low. Just have reasonable expectations of getting shoulder season or easy to exchange to places or possibly short notice options. This is unlikely to get you top options during peak times in advance. Be aware that trade power is still a thing even during the MVC preference period.

It's the greatest availability with the lowest demand unfortunately. My fingers are crossed the MVC preference period combined with a shoulder season stay will net a favorable exchange. Just wanted to see if anyone had any off-the-radar places they would recommend.

 

[Hindsite]

It's the greatest availability with the lowest demand unfortunately. My fingers are crossed the MVC preference period combined with a shoulder season stay will net a favorable exchange. Just wanted to see if anyone had any off-the-radar places they would recommend.

You stand a chance in shoulder season with almost anywhere other than Hawaii, Hilton Head can be scarcer, as is Crystal Shores (Marco Island) and Lakeshore Reserve (Orlando) and the MVC Pulse locations. Phoenix Canyon villas and the Sheraton are viable, Kierland less so. Westin Lagunamar 1-beds are reasonably available in II, 2-beds not so much, St Kitts seems to have a good range of availability, St Thomas less so, and St John next to never, Aruba had bulk drops so if you catch one of those they good, outside of that less. If you pay the TUG membership fee of $15, you will get access to the sightings forum, where you will get much better info than my memory can provide.
Put in a request for as many locations and dates as you will actually accept, with a 2-bed you don't need to go down to a Studio, but if you can managed with a 1-bed, include that.
Then manually search as often as you can, daily is good, to see if something else pops up at a Hyatt, DVC or Four seasons that you want, as well as checking the MVC, Sheraton and Westin properties. The matching process isn't perfect so things can slip through that you want.
I wouldn't "waste" even a low TDI 2-bed exchange on Orlando, other than for Disney, as they are widely available via getaway and accom certs, but your call on whether that is OK with you.

 

[Dean]

It's the greatest availability with the lowest demand unfortunately. My fingers are crossed the MVC preference period combined with a shoulder season stay will net a favorable exchange. Just wanted to see if anyone had any off-the-radar places they would recommend.

What I've found over the years is that I find interesting things and the ability to enjoy myself basically any where I go. Hopefully this is simply a poor week in Platinum season so that going forward you can minimize this situation by selecting a good week. While I own 2 WR Platinum weeks and get the best week I can yearly, I have become less positive on the ownership in general to the point that I've gone out and bought other traders for higher demand situations. I'm not sure a Gold or lower week there is worth paying the yearly fees in all honestly. Given that TDI is not standardized, even a 150 TDI for Branson is not dramatic in terms of inherent trade power. A guess would put a TDI of 150 for Branson about the same as 120 for Orlando or 100 (or less) for HI. Put in an ongoing search but then scour the II site daily and when you see something you want, grab it. II will only let you put in a limited number of total weeks in a request, I forget the exact number but it's around 50. That might be 50 week at one resort or 50 resorts for one week. There are lists of all the MVC resorts for the II codes but I haven't seen a combined list for all the Westin/Sheraton resorts but I would suspect one exists. Good luck and let us know how it works out.

 

[dioxide45]

You stand a chance in shoulder season with almost anywhere other than Hawaii, Hilton Head can be scarcer, as is Crystal Shores (Marco Island) and Lakeshore Reserve (Orlando) and the MVC Pulse locations. Phoenix Canyon villas and the Sheraton are viable, Kierland less so. Westin Lagunamar 1-beds are reasonably available in II, 2-beds not so much, St Kitts seems to have a good range of availability, St Thomas less so, and St John next to never, Aruba had bulk drops so if you catch one of those they good, outside of that less. If you pay the TUG membership fee of $15, you will get access to the sightings forum, where you will get much better info than my memory can provide.
Put in a request for as many locations and dates as you will actually accept, with a 2-bed you don't need to go down to a Studio, but if you can managed with a 1-bed, include that.
Then manually search as often as you can, daily is good, to see if something else pops up at a Hyatt, DVC or Four seasons that you want, as well as checking the MVC, Sheraton and Westin properties. The matching process isn't perfect so things can slip through that you want.
I wouldn't "waste" even a low TDI 2-bed exchange on Orlando, other than for Disney, as they are widely available via getaway and accom certs, but your call on whether that is OK with you.

Lakeshore Reserve shoulder season should be an easy exchange with just about any 2BR deposit. We have exchanged for 3BR units there using studios. Westin Kierland Villas shows up for summer months quite often, but that really isn't shoulder season. Rather, it is off season. I agree with your other assessments though.

 

[noreenkate]

If you pay the TUG membership fee of $15, you will get access to the sightings forum, where you will get much better info than my memory can provide.

@Daytripz that right there is the best piece of advice…

Prior to jumping into the resale timeshare thing I officially joined tugg and scoured that sightings ffor quite awhile. I learned quite a bit on how to figure out whats available and works best for my family. It’s the accommodations certificate ones we have used the most 3 and counting plus IMO 3 great trade’s thanks to those posts.

 

[Daytripz]

What I've found over the years is that I find interesting things and the ability to enjoy myself basically any where I go. Hopefully this is simply a poor week in Platinum season so that going forward you can minimize this situation by selecting a good week. While I own 2 WR Platinum weeks and get the best week I can yearly, I have become less positive on the ownership in general to the point that I've gone out and bought other traders for higher demand situations. I'm not sure a Gold or lower week there is worth paying the yearly fees in all honestly. Given that TDI is not standardized, even a 150 TDI for Branson is not dramatic in terms of inherent trade power. A guess would put a TDI of 150 for Branson about the same as 120 for Orlando or 100 (or less) for HI. Put in an ongoing search but then scour the II site daily and when you see something you want, grab it. II will only let you put in a limited number of total weeks in a request, I forget the exact number but it's around 50. That might be 50 week at one resort or 50 resorts for one week. There are lists of all the MVC resorts for the II codes but I haven't seen a combined list for all the Westin/Sheraton resorts but I would suspect one exists. Good luck and let us know how it works out.

Thank you Dean for your reply. I appreciate the insight - and I will let you know how it pans out!

 

[Daytripz]

Lakeshore Reserve shoulder season should be an easy exchange with just about any 2BR deposit. We have exchanged for 3BR units there using studios. Westin Kierland Villas shows up for summer months quite often, but that really isn't shoulder season. Rather, it is off season. I agree with your other assessments though.

Lakeshore is on my list so I'll look into shoulder season - thank you.

 

[Daytripz]

@Daytripz that right there is the best piece of advice…

Prior to jumping into the resale timeshare thing I officially joined tugg and scoured that sightings ffor quite awhile. I learned quite a bit on how to figure out whats available and works best for my family. It’s the accommodations certificate ones we have used the most 3 and counting plus IMO 3 great trade’s thanks to those posts.

Okay - I'm signing up now! I'll follow your lead and learn what I can. I do have two accommodation certificates - good to know those can lead to good weeks!