ThirdHome Exchange for Ski Week in Japan Possible?

[fishwithwater]

I have been going to Japan every year or every other year and have fancied staying a week in Niseko. I have had no luck in II, none of the resorts in Japan ever showed up, not even in mud/green season. RCI has a few, but none at where I normally go.

Next year I am using Hilton points to stay for some nights but it took beaucoup points, I don't think I am able to accumulate that amount of points to stay regularly.

I don't have a ThirdHome account, but saw it listed a few chalets in Niseko and Rusutsu, but listing them is one thing and having availability is another. Has anyone exchanged into any during ski season? What was your experience, are they closed to the lifts? How available are they? If I give them my WM Park City ski week, do I have a chance in getting an exchange?

 

[escanoe]

If anyone on TUG will know or can figure out what Third Home has, it is @Eric B.

 

[Eric B]

I don't have a ThirdHome account, but saw it listed a few chalets in Niseko and Rusutsu, but listing them is one thing and having availability is another. Has anyone exchanged into any during ski season? What was your experience, are they closed to the lifts? How available are they? If I give them my WM Park City ski week, do I have a chance in getting an exchange?

There isn't any availability in Hokkaido currently, which isn't terribly surprising - I've seen some come through but haven't really been tracking that area. One of the homes in Rusutsu indicates it's only minutes walk to ski lifts and the resort. The other, which indicates it includes the use of an 8 seater van, accepts week requests, which is the ability to ask an owner for a specific week.

One of the ones in Niseko also accepts week requests and comes with a van but doesn't indicate how far from the ski slopes it is.

I would recommend chatting with ThirdHome about how many keys you'd get for WM Park City. I do well with a couple of other resorts in WM but it's best to know how many keys you'd get before giving up a good week that you'd otherwise use. Happy to refer you to my POC there or answer any questions - if you have a specific week in mind for either of the weeks listed I could reach out and see if it's available. The down side is that if they agree, I would be stuck with exchanging for that week so you'd need to be sure you want that week and location.

 

[fishwithwater]

There isn't any availability in Hokkaido currently, which isn't terribly surprising - I've seen some come through but haven't really been tracking that area. One of the homes in Rusutsu indicates it's only minutes walk to ski lifts and the resort. The other, which indicates it includes the use of an 8 seater van, accepts week requests, which is the ability to ask an owner for a specific week.

One of the ones in Niseko also accepts week requests and comes with a van but doesn't indicate how far from the ski slopes it is.

I would recommend chatting with ThirdHome about how many keys you'd get for WM Park City. I do well with a couple of other resorts in WM but it's best to know how many keys you'd get before giving up a good week that you'd otherwise use. Happy to refer you to my POC there or answer any questions - if you have a specific week in mind for either of the weeks listed I could reach out and see if it's available. The down side is that if they agree, I would be stuck with exchanging for that week so you'd need to be sure you want that week and location.

Thank you Eric, I got most of my knowledge about ThirdHome from reading your prior posts.
Please refer me to your POC, maybe that way I can find out more if it is a good fit for my need. Should I PM you my email?

Also, about its annual fee, it mentioned that you pay it when you make your first exchange in the year. What happen if I don't make any exchange for a year, do I still need to pay? The reason I ask is because between all the different means of exchanges, I might not be able to commit to making an exchange with ThirdHome every year, every other year is more realistic. By the same token, if I don't make the required annual deposit because I have no need for an exchange for a year, my account will be in limited status. Is that a bad thing? Are there consequences other than I can't make an exchange until I deposit? Can I just leave it in limited status until I know I need to make an exchange?

I already had the trip Japan in 2025 booked, but don't have anything solid in mind for 2026 yet. I appreciate your offer to help make a request.