What are your most recent SA trades?

[ham4mel]

bad news

not a good idea to share this kind of info; rci is watching and reduces the trading power with every good trade that is posted; Jeff is absolutely right; keep a lid on this stuff!!!

 

[MuranoJo]

Agree Jeff.
However, don't think there's too much to brag about these days.

 

[AwayWeGo]

I Don't Get It.

not a good idea to share this kind of info; rci is watching and reduces the trading power with every good trade that is posted;

I don't get it about keeping SA trades hush-hush on TUG.

I mean, the RCI people don't need to check TUG to notice the SA timeshare trades that are happening.

Shucks, all these good trades we think we're keeping mum are RCI exchanges.

All RCI has to do is just look at their own internal RCI deposit & exchange records to find out exactly who's depositing what & who's getting what on exchange.

The real place where discretion is advisable is in on scene at the resorts the SA owners exchange into.

Stateside owners who paid full freight plus big annual fees for their weeks might not take kindly to hearing exchange guests brag about getting in on RCI exchange for SA weeks that cost them hardly anything to buy & practically nothing in annual levies.

-- Alan Cole, McLean (Fairfax County), Virginia, USA.

 

[Skatduder]

I haven't been watching this board for a while. But I'm just amazed that
people still talk about there SA trades. Then complain because they can't get a resort. I have bragging rights, but I'm not stupid. Why lose a good thing, you might want to go back to that resort someday.

 

[thetimeshareguy]

Our most recent excellent exchanges are as follows (we own two red weeks at a standard SA resort and one blue week at a RID):

-- A week at each of Grand Mayan Resort and Mayan Palace Resort in the Riviera Maya, Mexico (we leave on Friday, yippee!).

-- A week each at Sheraton's Vistana and Westgate Vacation Village in Orlando (for next year after Christmas).

Except for the Grand Mayan (one bedroom) all the exchanges are two-bedroom units.

By the way, I don't agree at all that we shouldn't discuss these matters here. It's not "bragging" to discuss good exchanges. Every time I check over at these SA boards (which isn't often) I encounter this discussion. Face it, only a tiny fraction of timeshare owners are TUG members and I don't think RCI cares that much that we get good exchanges. It's fantasy to think they monitor this board, learn of a good exchange, and then run to the computer and tweak it to eliminate that possibility. RCI makes money off of every exchange, so I expect they're fairly okay with a few people gaming the system and getting good exchanges. In any case, if we can't talk about it here, where can we talk about it? I say "get over it" and move on.

 

[MuranoJo]

Jeff, I thought I replied last night, but I must not have sent the message correctly. (I've been away from the Board for some time, so adjusting to the new site.)
Anyway, I couldn't agree more. Although, given the increasing costs and declining trade power, I'm not sure we have a lot to brag about. Oops, I may have just diminished my future sales potential.

I honestly believe all the bragging in the past combined with the exploitation of one or two members who were getting great trades and then renting them, was the kiss of death and resulted in Black Monday, or whatever we call it.

 

[MuranoJo]

By It's fantasy to think they monitor this board, learn of a good exchange, and then run to the computer and tweak it to eliminate that possibility.

Timeshareguy,
I don't believe it's fantasy that they monitor this board and make changes based on what happens here...not at all.
Dare we bring up the MC experience from a few years ago as a prime example? This board has gotten press for the SA 'thing' a few times, a few TUG folks who were willing were interviewed, and then the floodgates really opened.
Bottom line, the exposure has significantly negatively impacted the SA exchange experience, right or wrong, depending on where you own.

 

[JEFF H]

Bottom line, the exposure has significantly negatively impacted the SA exchange experience, right or wrong, depending on where you own.

Negative or Positive impact can be debated.
Some SA week owners Gained, many Lost and others stayed the same.
It has had the effect of increasing trade power for owners of truely High demand SA weeks.
In the early days all SA weeks received a pretty generous generic trade power value making even low demand weeks very valuable for exchange.
SA Trade power however is now based on supply and demand as it should have been all along just like the rest of the weeks deposited to RCI USA.
Owners of High demand weeks,larger units should be rewarded with Higher trade power than low demand studios or 1-br
Higher Quality resort owners should also benefit from higher VEP scores.

 

[guitarlars]

Trades seem fair to me (sorry - long)

I have four SA's, two at the Seapointer and two at Sudwalla.

The Seapointer's were, from my perspective, fairly priced when I bought them due to the exchange rate differential. The levy has increased to the point where it is coming into line with U.S. equivalent timeshares. In short, an OK, but not great deal.

I feel like the Seapointer's trade about the same as my U.S. RID resort, which has approximately the same annual maintenance cost. The U.S. resort actually cost less to purchase than the Seapointer's. If anything the bargain was created by searching and purchasing used, not due to SA.

Where exactly does this view that an SA timeshare is somehow trading differently than an equivalent U.S. after Black Sunday? I'm not seeing it, and don't feel that I'm gaming the system if I pay the same cost and get the same trades with either a U.S. resort or SA resort.

The Sudwalla's are a slightly different tale, cheap to buy, low levy, etc. They have traded better that I would have hoped, but I suspect not that differently than a U.S. equivalent would trade. In this case I view these as a fortunate purchase due to currency advantages and the prior situation in SA, but again don't see as how I'm getting anything more than a U.S. or other timeshare would get for an equivalent quality unit.

Bottom line, all this talk about RCI monitoring the system is paranoia. They have full access to the trade data and I would be shocked if they don't mine the data regularly in order to determine trade values (on the other hand, given that they can't run a web-site worth a hoot, so maybe I overestimate their technical savvy). This little BBS is not likely to matter given the number of trades in comparison to the limited number of members here.

If you go around bragging at the resorts about your trade and how the other owners are getting ripped off because they paid full pop for a new unit, then expect some blow-back and complaints to RCI. That might cause problems. That's just because the developers don't want to lose their prospective rip-off sales and don't want buyers to consider the prospect that they will lose most of the purchase price the day they sign the agreement.

If anything keep your lips sealed about the trades when enjoying the fruits of your hard work (buying low and searching for trades) at the resort, but it's not likely to be a problem discussing it here. Same goes for advice on buying, because that's the source of the good deal. If you can't help yourself just attribute it to buying used, not SA.

My opinion only,

Lars

 

[stellamylove]

Loose Lips do Sink Ships!

A couple of years ago I used to get very good sometimes incredible trades with my SA week. Now my week hardly pulls anything that I would want to use. I wouldn't want this to happen to anyone else. RCI really does read these boards. Please take this seriously.
Thanks.

 

[JEFF H]

Where exactly does this view that an SA timeshare is somehow trading differently than an equivalent U.S. after Black Sunday? I'm not seeing it, and don't feel that I'm gaming the system if I pay the same cost and get the same trades with either a U.S. resort or SA resort.
\

I agree.
Its a misconception today based on the way things were with SA weeks befor they were valued based on supply and demand.
Today they are valued properly.

 

[Laurie]

Its a misconception today based on the way things were with SA weeks befor they were valued based on supply and demand.
Today they are valued properly.

I agree too. The "loophole" back then was that there was no computer program to value them properly, and thousands of us took advantage of that. I believe they fixed this not as much because our lips had the power to sink RCI ships, but more likely that our discussions caused thousands more folks to buy previously unowned and/or undeposited weeks which flooded their inventory. RCI was probably planning to integrate RCI-SA into their worldwide computer system at some point, maybe this huge influx of inventory speeded up their urgency, but of course they needed to do it in this day and age.

(I'm not saying that RCI doesn't read these boards, or that other "loophole" discussion here hasn't caused other RCI loopholes to be closed, of course it has, but I don't believe that applies to SA any longer.)

That "loophole" has been closed, and now what we can trade into with our SA weeks is based on the same algorithms used for all other RCI resorts. SA weeks are hardly the great traders they once were, so let's get over our fears and share real info with our fellow TUGgers again.

To me, hanging onto the view that our current SA threads have some huge power to destroy what is left in their trade power is like dogs' "magical thinking" ("I bark, and my dinner bowl comes to me - because that's what happened yesterday. If I didn't bark, I wouldn't ever get fed" sort of thing).

 

[Mimi]

SA Trades

Trades using 1br and 2br Mount Amanzi:

2006: Sunterra Villa Mirage, Scottsdale 2br
Chatteau Charmont, Gulfport 2br--week redeposited by RCI after
resort was demolished by Katrina
French Quarter, Branson 2br

2005: Summer Bay, Las Vegas 2br
Los Abrigados, Sedona 2br

2004: Hacienda Del Mar, Cabo San Lucas 2br
Orange Lake, Orlando, 1br

 

[Diane]

Mimi -- it would be of interest to know whether you were using Red or Peak Mt. Amanzi weeks, whether they were deposited more than one year before their start date, the check-in dates or season of the resorts you snagged and the impact of Black Sunday. Glad you are enjoying your trades.

Diane