What exactly did I exchange into?

[DaveNV]

This is kind of a weird situation, and I'm hoping those of you with greater exchanging experience can help me sort things out:

I own a week at MROP (Multi-Resorts.com.) They are managed by VRI*ety, which is owned by Trading Places. When talking to the VRI*ety people, they make a clear distinction that they are NOT the same as Trading Places, even though they acknowledge they're owned by them.

So to make an exchange, I reserved my MROP usage week, deposited it into VRI*ety, then called them to arrange an exchange. The VRI*ety Exchange website (managed by Trading Places) showed me choices of available exchange weeks, and I selected the resort I wanted to exchange into. They did it for me, and the exchange now shows in my account. They have a link to print the Exchange Confirmation page. When I do so, it says the exchange is through SFX, and that I'm an Owner.

Confused? So am I. But it gets worse:

After all this, I have an exchange into a 2br at the Grand Mayan Riviera Maya. It says it's a 2br that sleeps 6. Everything I've read says Grand Mayan two bedrooms are for the full Grand Master Suite (both bedrooms and the living room/kitchen area in between.) But they sleep more than 6.

So what exactly did I exchange into, and who did it? This MROP --> VRI*ety --> Trading Places --> SFX thing has me baffled. Is SFX also part of Trading Places?

Thanks,
Dave

 

[heathpack]

We have a trade in to the Grand Mayan Los Cabos, 2BR, thru SFX. Our occupancy is listed as 6 on our confirmation.

From the Mayan Resorts website:
"GRAND MASTER SUITE
Maximum capacity
6 adults and 2 children less than 12 years old.

Beds
2 King-size beds, 3 sofa beds. (A Grand Master Suite is comprised of a Grand Suite and a Grand Master Room combined)."

So it looks like the Grand Master suite sleeps 6 adults, plus 2 children. Maybe 6+2=8 accounts for the discrepancy?

I know there is some sort of special relationship between SFX and the Mayan Resorts. Maybe SFX is handling all of the independant exchanges and providing inventory?

H

 

[JudyS]

VRI*ety isn't owned by Trading Places. VRI (a management company; Vacation Resorts International) is the management company for MROP.
However, when VRI first tried to set up their internal trading system, VRI*ety, they found it was too difficult to write the programming for an exchange company. So, after about a year of telling owners at VRI resorts that their system would be available "real soon now," they decided to contract the running of VRI*ety out to another exchange company.

First, VRI hired RCI to run VRI*ety, but VRI was unhappy with RCI. So, now VRI has Trading Places do the actual trades for VRI*ety.

The statement "owner" on your VRI*ety confirmation means that you own a timeshare week that you traded to get your reservation from them. Their other reservation type is "renter" (or maybe it says "rental," I forget) which would mean you gave them cash to get your reservation, rather than trading in a week that you owned.

All the independent exchange companies trade weeks back-and-forth, and Trading Places gets most of its Grand Mayan weeks from SFX. This is why it shows SFX on your reservation.

As for how many the unit sleeps, that I don't know. You could try calling the Grand Mayan directly. If they can't find your reservation at first, don't freak out, just call VRI*ety about it. It can take a while for timeshares to find reservations from the independent exchange companies, but VRI*ety/Trading Places knows where they are doing and rarely makes mistakes.

 

[DaveNV]

Thanks, Stacey and Judy. I knew these companies were all associated in some way, but it struck me funny that at every turn it seemed I was seeing another name of another "player" in the timeshare industry. I'm sure it'll all work out fine.

I'll check with VRI about things. The confirmation says the Grand Mayan won't have the exchange data till three days before check in. And as long as I have a bed, I'm happy. The other couple going with us may end up on the sofabed, but they'll get what they're paying for.

Dave

 

[Carolinian]

Most of the independent exchange companies, many management companies, and some individual resorts or developers belong to a trade association known as CARE (Cooperative Association of Resort Exchangers), which helps facilitate swapping of weeks between these groups. When an independent gets you an exchange through a ''trading partner'' this is generally what they are referring to.

There is often an advantage to trading this way. For example in a trade I had to a summer week on the French Riviera through DAE, I checked in right behind an RCI exchanger and heard all the list of extra fees they were charged. My DAE ''trading partner'' exchange, on the other hand, was treated as a reservation by a member of that resort chain, and I was not charged most of those fees the RCI exchangers ahead of me were charged. The only extra I had to pay was for electricity.

 

[Free2Roam]

This is one of the reasons I love TUG... Great information!! Thanks!!