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New here and need some guidance

Ted U.

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Hello,

We own a Vida Mayan Palace 2BR and are looking for an exchange company that has reasonable inventory. Most of what I have seen available is low quality and not usually available.
I want to browse online once I join, identify the resort and then check availability and reserve it.
Does this exist? Which companies are the ones I should be looking at?
I've been reading here on these forums but some of the information is old so I am checking to see if there is anything I am missing.
I've owned since 2012 and am still a rookie that is just trying to go to new places and a fair exchange (2BR for 2BR for example).

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Ted
 

rboesl

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Divi Village Beach & Golf Resort
Vidanta Grand Mayan
Villa del Arco Cobo
Grandview Las Vegas
Vacation Village at Bonaventure
I've been able to find Vidanta inventory on RCI readily. However, it should be noted that Vida Lifestyles, the Vidanta sponsored vacation club, uses SFX. But, I've never been on SFX to do any searches.
 

Ted U.

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I'm not trying to find Vida inventory. I'm trying to find a good exchange company where I can deposit my Vida weeks and exchange them for something else.
Also where I can check availability BEFORE I make the deposit.
 

silentg

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Enchanted Isle.
Have you tried II or RCI?
 

echino

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HYN HCC HWP HYP
HRA KAN WSJ WKV WLR SVV
MCV MKO MM1 MPU MSK
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You won't find high quality / high demand availability online with any exchange company. You will need to set up an ongoing search for a chance to find a good week.
 

JuliGee

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You won't find high quality / high demand availability online with any exchange company. You will need to set up an ongoing search for a chance to find a good week.

I agree with echino. The bottom line with all exchange companies, is that demand for the better resorts and locations is usually always greater than the availability of space. Great weeks rarely are just sitting there waiting for someone to book them. When a great week is deposited, it goes to the next qualified person in queue that has placed a request maybe weeks or months earlier. Your best bet is to place a request for an ongoing search, and hope it materializes.

Juli
 

rboesl

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Vidanta Grand Mayan
Villa del Arco Cobo
Grandview Las Vegas
Vacation Village at Bonaventure
I'm not trying to find Vida inventory. I'm trying to find a good exchange company where I can deposit my Vida weeks and exchange them for something else.
Also where I can check availability BEFORE I make the deposit.
Gotcha! Then you probably want to check out The Registry Collection (https://www.theregistrycollection.com/). It's an extension of RCI of high end resorts around the world. The inventory is not as plentiful as the regular RCI but it is quite exclusive.
 

DaveNV

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Chances are, one of the sales pitch comments you heard was that you could exchange your resort for anywhere in the world you wanted to travel. Just log into your exchange company account, find what you want, and bam - exchange happens. In reality, that was back in the old days, when timeshares were mostly week-for-week exchanges. Resorts would do bulk deposits, individuals would deposit reserved weeks, and inventory just sat there waiting for owners to exchange into those great weeks. It doesn't work that way anymore.

In recent years, due to the many creative ways exchange companies now offer inventory, (weeks, points, and even rentals), and Owners and Mega-Renters renting out their time independently, it's much harder to find good stuff sitting out in open inventory, ripe for the picking. As the above posts have said, regardless of company, you generally need to put in an Ongoing Search ahead of time for the place you'd like to go at some distant time in the future, and hope a match occurs when that time is deposited.

The down side to that is 1) You need to know when and where you want to go, and 2) You have to wait and hope a match comes up. Yes, it is VERY frustrating, because you have no control over what/when you may get, if it happens at all. You can wait and wait, and not get a match. That is why the recent mantra for owning timeshares is to buy where you like to vacation. Another option is to go the Points route, where you aren't tied to a specific resort or timeframe.

No one ownership covers all the bases, and at the end of the day, it's a frustrating mess, if you need and want to have things the way they're "supposed" to be. Keep exploring options, and hopefully you'll find a system that works for you.

Good luck!

Dave
 

Ted U.

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I understand. Very clear thank you.
We bought in Mexico because we like to vacation there. But sometimes a change is desired. It was just the what I have been finding online in the inventory lists are kind of crappy properties that get poor reviews. Without even getting into availability the choices are lower quality.


Ted
 

amycurl

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Ted,
Here's how I would approach it:
-Consider where and when you would like to go
-Join TUG to get access to the resort reviews (best $15 you'll ever spend) so that you can figure out the highest quality resorts in the area where you would like to exchange
-Put in an ongoing search for at least three resorts and three time periods. Be willing to wait.

Whatever is sitting online are the *leftovers*. Granted, sometimes, if you're quick you'll find great stuff. Being a TUG member also gives to you access to the sightings board, where other TUGgers post great things.....like this morning, when ski weeks at nice resorts out west were bulk deposited to II. But the safest bet is an OGS.

Also be aware that certain parts of the world mean different kinds of resorts. You're not going to find a Vida-type resort in, say, New England or Italy.
 

Passepartout

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Part of the reason your exchanges are rated on the low side is that Mexican rentals (in general) are low priced. Also it appears that your exchange is not one of Vidanta's higher end options, like Grand Bliss.
 

Ted U.

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True, we bought the most basic at the time. The reason being that the 2BR apartment is still rather nice (4 Star level IMHO) and we spend the least time in it.
The grounds, however, are top notch and are way beyond the room in quality. All levels have the same access except for some exclusive areas limited to Grand Luxxe or Grand Bliss members and are as boring as hell with no action, but quite luxurious if you are the stuffy sort of person.

But it really has nothing to do with my issue regarding exchanges.
 

Ted U.

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Ted,
Here's how I would approach it:
-Consider where and when you would like to go
-Join TUG to get access to the resort reviews (best $15 you'll ever spend) so that you can figure out the highest quality resorts in the area where you would like to exchange
-Put in an ongoing search for at least three resorts and three time periods. Be willing to wait.

Whatever is sitting online are the *leftovers*. Granted, sometimes, if you're quick you'll find great stuff. Being a TUG member also gives to you access to the sightings board, where other TUGgers post great things.....like this morning, when ski weeks at nice resorts out west were bulk deposited to II. But the safest bet is an OGS.

Also be aware that certain parts of the world mean different kinds of resorts. You're not going to find a Vida-type resort in, say, New England or Italy.


So if I am to understand what everyone is saying: What I am seeing online in the listings and resort profiles is not they only things they have? If I perform an OGS other properties may come up?
Who should I become a member with? Is it RCI and II? Are they the best to work with? As I said, I don't want to deposit until I find something because in the end if I cannot find anything then I would just go to a Vida property.

And I would gladly become a TUG member. I will research how to do it.

Thank you,
Ted
 

DaveNV

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So if I am to understand what everyone is saying: What I am seeing online in the listings and resort profiles is not they only things they have? If I perform an OGS other properties may come up?
Who should I become a member with? Is it RCI and II? Are they the best to work with? As I said, I don't want to deposit until I find something because in the end if I cannot find anything then I would just go to a Vida property.

And I would gladly become a TUG member. I will research how to do it.

Thank you,
Ted


Yes, that’s how it works. The issue is that when a great resort gets deposited, the next person in line with an OGS is offered that exchange. The resort may never make it to the general inventory.

RCI and II are the biggest, (RCI is the bigger of those), but they don’t usually offer the same properties. What you see in one you probably won’t see in the other. SFX (San Francisco Exchange) seems to do a lot with Mexico properties, but the things they offer may not always be the highest quality. Nice but not over the top.

That’s a place to start. There are other independents, but I don’t know how much they handle Mexico properties.

Dave
 

jlp879

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Your Vidanta resort exchanges in the two biggies, II and RCI, as well as with some of the smaller exchange companies.

For both II and RCI, you can see all of their resort offerings online, without even being a member. So spend some time with each of their online resort directories, pick some locations you want to travel to, and see the kind of resort offerings that RCI and II have in each area. When you have it narrowed down, you can join one of the exchanges, and deposit your week. You'll need to do this at least 12 months in advance of when you want to go. Keep in mind all of this comes with extra fees. Fees to join, fees to exchange, etc.

What you see available online is leftovers only, and that is why you must plan in advance and deposit early. In the exchange game, the early bird gets the worm, so to speak.
 
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