Vidanta and exchange companies

[brownsdm]

Hello, I just joined and have a couple of questions I have shares in a one-bedroom at the Vidanta resorts, I also have Certificates to allow others to stay. I have been using Vida lifestyles as my exchange company but I would like to explore other options. Am I able to exchange my one bedroom with others who have timeshares here?

 

[T-Dot-Traveller]

Hello, I just joined and have a couple of questions I have shares in a one-bedroom at the Vidanta resorts, I also have Certificates to allow others to stay. I have been using Vida lifestyles as my exchange company but I would like to explore other options. Am I able to exchange my one bedroom with others who have timeshares here?

Welcome to TUG

There is an owner to owner exchange forum on TUG.
I am not sure how widely it is used.
This eliminates both parties paying exchange fees to RCI - Intervals- SFX etc,

I the case of the person interested in using your Vidanta one bedroom it would allow them to avoid the resort fee charged to exchangers.
It would also allow them to avoid the recent Vidanta-RCI exchange 1 in 4 rule.

There could be an interest but it would require the other party having something you have an interest in visiting.

[I believe Vida Lifesyles exchanges are - ( likely managed by SFX) / edited - as per info below from @Eric B
VIda Lifestyles is managed for Vidanta by Arrivia - formerly known as ICE / International Cruise and Excursions.
They and SFX are a long time Vidanta " relationship partners" . Our 2006 contract included a couple of years of free memberships in both ; as well as the RCI deposit and exchange membership option.

 

[Eric B]

Hello, I just joined and have a couple of questions I have shares in a one-bedroom at the Vidanta resorts, I also have Certificates to allow others to stay. I have been using Vida lifestyles as my exchange company but I would like to explore other options. Am I able to exchange my one bedroom with others who have timeshares here?

There is a listing for direct owner-to-owner exchanges on TUG2 that allows you to post an ad for what you have and what you would like in exchange for free. Details are here:

Free Timeshare Exchanges

Exchange your timeshare for free! Trade with other owners effortlessly without any fees. Enjoy a hassle-free way to find your next timeshare vacation.

tug2.net

In my experience, Vidanta weeks are a bit higher in cost than many other timeshares, so I don't use mine for exchanging. Depending on what level you own with them, you could use RCI or Interval for exchanges instead of Vida Lifestyles, which is not primarily an exchange company. Vida Lifestyles is run by arrivia, formerly known as International Cruise and Excursions (ICE), and does have some access to certain resorts because of contractual arrangements with them but doesn't seem to get a lot of deposits from owners, which means that it's predominantly shoulder season and low season availability you see there. It's not terrible, but I have never and will likely never deposit a Vidanta week with them because their best use is for getting resort weeks that don't require a deposit in exchange (i.e., like getaways on II or extra vacations on RCI). They're also associated pretty closely with SFX, which is a small independent exchange system that has similar limitations. Bottom line for me is that those (SFX and Vida Lifestyles) are both great ways to get into Vidanta resorts at a lower cost, but don't give you a lot of access for getting elsewhere using a Vidanta ownership.

There's a fair amount of information on Vidanta available in the postings in the Mexican Timesharing forum that is worth your time reading through. There are also a number of knowledgeable Vidanta owners like @T-Dot-Traveller that can answer questions you might have on how to optimize your use of your ownership; most of them post more often in the Mexican forum. Feel free to reach out if you've got any questions.