Newbie needs help for the 1st deposit

[sopen Junior Member Find all posts View Profile Close sopen]

Hi everyone,

We have a Floating week one bedroom unit with Westgate's Planet Hollywood in Las Vegas, cannot consume our week in 2010 and now need to rollover to 2011. We are planning to join one of the Exchange Companies and most likely will choose II but we are not sure what's next to maximize the values.

Westgate told us today that we can deposit with II a one week one bedroom Planet Hollywood in 2011. But we can also deposit Myrtle Beach (Myrtle Beach Oceanfront Resort - Oceanfront Family Resort Hotels in Myrtle Beach South Carolina SC | Westgate) or Park City (Park City Hotels | Lodging at Westgate Park City Resort & Spa) since these two Westgate properties have the same "trading power" in other exchange companies.

I am very new to the Timeshare and Exchange vacation world so I need your advice!

1. Do you think the trading power will be higher if I deposit Planet Hollywood, or should I deposit Myrtle Beach or Park City?

2. When I ask Westgate to deposit my week to II, should I specify the week to boost the trading power (and which week)? I know that although I have floating week with Planet Hollywood, I cannot reserve week 51 and week 52 as these are priced higher when they sold the timeshare and I did not go this route. So if Westgate randomly deposit any week for me and it ends up to be a week in July which no one goes to Las Vegas in the heat, will this hurt my trading power with II?

Your advice is really appreciated!

Thanks!

sopen

[Justjean Member Find all posts View Profile Close Justjean]

this is new

This must be new. I don't understand how you can offer to trade a week you don't own. Never thought they were interchangeable with another resort simply for the purpose of exchange.

My experience with II is this: If you are free to travel ANYWHERE that they have available - at any given time, and indeed they generally always have some nice places available, OR if you are incredibly flexible as to WHEN you can travel to your particular desired resort, then it can be a real good deal.

It may take awhile, sometimes over a year, but probably you will eventually get the resort you want if you ask them to notify you when it comes available. They might not give you much more notice than for a last minute "get-away."

I have found that only rarely can you get the resort you want WHEN you want it. If No one at a given resort wants to trade into the system, you can't get in...ever.

Certain locations, such as Florida, offer quite a few options, especially in the summer. One really neat thing about II that makes the fee well worth it at times, is you can OFTEN get a larger unit than you paid for, especially if you only have a 1 bedroom to trade. We have often seen two bedrooms and once even a four bedroom available...and yes, if it is offered to you, you can opt for it at no extra charge. The reason is MANY of the time shares are ALL 2 BR units.

BUT you will want to go to a site like Tripadvisor.com to get the lowdown on any resort you are interested in. Read the reviews!