which exchange company is the best

[lawren2 Malibu Beach Barbie & A Super Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close lawren2]

Greg - your posts are very helpful! I didn't really realize that each company has its own 'area' that it has the most inventory with. What other companies are reliable and have good inventory for Europe (Italy, France, Switzerland, etc.)? What about the South Pacific (Tahiti, Bora bora, etc.)? Again, I would only want 5 star....

Thanks!

Also, who has the best Hawaii and Caribbean?

This thread has been begging for me to respond to it.

The secret to being successful and happy using independents is to know where they specialize. Several have contracts or manage resorts and get reliable steady inventory.

Caribbean is an issue. RCI has the most resorts and that is why we have belonged for so many years. Interval has some really nice resorts as well but on fewer islands.

The OP cannot use RCI as SOK is not affiliated. She can use II but has had difficulty filling her exchange requests. June 2008 caribbean should be a no brainer with II. If Haley keeps an eye on the Interval Exchange Opportunity board <once she contributes to the site or has 15 posts> I daresay she would get something very nice with her week even with a search first.

An alternative would be DAE. They can get inventory at Morritts in Grand Cayman and also Barbados. I know of people who have been quite successful with them.

Most of the Independents and Interval do not gig you for not depositing 12 months in advance. Many cannot even begin a search for you until 12 months out. The 15 to 18 months in advance timeframe is strictly an RCI creation.

In the most simplistic words I would chose:

Trading Places International for Hawaii, Southern California, Mexico and Yellowstone.
Hawaiian Timeshare Exchange for Hawaii
DAE for Europe and Caribbean

[Bill4728 Super Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close Bill4728]

The OP cannot use RCI as SOK is not affiliated. She can use II but has had difficulty filling her exchange requests.

The two major exchange companies II & RCI only allow you trade with them if there is a contract in place with the resort. No contract- no using them. The other exchange companies do not require the resort to have a contract and will normally deal with a single owner.

The one big problem is when you do not have use of your week, but have given your week to a "CLUB" and you get your vacations thru the club. An example is club sunterra -CS. You buy a week, you give CS the week in exchange for points which you then use to reserve CS weeks. If you want to exchange outside of the club, you must use II because that is who the club uses and you must use the club since you gave your week to the club.

[Carolinian Super Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close Carolinian]

Some of the independents post their availibility online for all to see. The thing to remember is that, like all exchange companies, the best deposits often are snagged by searches before they ever make it online. Another is that some have ''trading partner'' relations where they can get inventory from trading partners that will not generally appear online either. An example is DAE's access to Morritts weeks in Grand Cayman or to CLC weeks on the French Riviera and UK canalboats, among other places.

It never hurts to ask an independent, as they seem to be more willing to go the extra mile to find something. When my nephew got married they were looking for an island in the Phillipines with good scuba diving for their honeymoon. I called the US office of DAE, and working through connections of their UK office, they snagged a week for them at a nice resort.

Some of the independents also seem to have better availibility than RCI if you are looking 6 months to a year out.

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

these independent companies do you have to give them your week or will they search for you first? Are they pretty reliable?

[Carolinian Super Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close Carolinian]

these independent companies do you have to give them your week or will they search for you first? Are they pretty reliable?

Many have a ''request first'' system where you do not have to deposit a week or prepay an exchange fee in order to put in a request. I primarily use DAE which works that way and have found them reliable. If they don't often get what you are looking for, they will tell you.

[biskits Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close biskits]

&quot;Didnt know what I didnt know&quot; about timeshares

Haley
As previous posters have tried to explain to you, one exchange company does not fit every individual's needs. I myself belong to Wyndham, RCI, DAE
and probably soon Interval. One unit I own does not trade well with RCI,
so I might try it in II next year. I myself am not able to book vacations much more than 6 months in advance. This also limits the trading power of my RCI unit. However, with the help of Faust and Lawren, and others on this board,
I was able to exchange my banked RCI weeks for a week in Anaheim this September on 30 day notice (I leave next week )and a week in Mazatlan in March 2008 on a 6 month notice. Up until 2 months ago, I never knew that there were smaller exchange companies like DAE and SFX that you could join for free, in addition to belonging to RCI and/or II.
I have spent hours reading information and posts on this board and on TUGS
to better understand the ins and outs of the world of timesharing and how to make lemonade out of the lemons I bought. ( http://www.timeshareforums.com/forum...we-bought.html ). There are a lot of people here at TS4MS
that can help you get the most out of your timeshare. But in order for people to help you, you need to know where and when you want to travel. Given that information, you can post a request on the II exchange opportunities board or you can join DAE or SFX at no cost and without depositing your week
and watch what they have available. And you can watch exchanges on Redweek and if you see something you like, come back and post a question
on how to get it. I "did'nt know what I didnt know" when I came to this board.
After spending many hours reading posts here and on TUGS, and asking questions th4ru private messages to members of this board, the fog is starting to lift
and I am getting better use out of my timeshares. The people on this board can and will do the same for you if you give them a chance. Best wishes,
Paul

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

thank you so much for your advice. I also am starting to see the light but know I have a long way to go. But thank you for taking the time to try and explain.

I now am on the search to see if I can findsomething in St. Marteen the end of May , or the first 2 weeks of June.

Once again thank you so much for your time.!!!!!!!!

[biskits Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close biskits]

II Exchange Opportunities

Haley,
Everyday, members of TS4MS post new sigtings
on all the different exchange threads. Here is the link
to the II daily sightings. http://www.timeshareforums.com/forum...opportunities/
Review every morning
and every afternoon or when you have a chance.
When you see a resort you want with the dates you want call Interval IMMEDIATELY and tell them
"a friend had a search in and called me to let me know XYZ Resort as an opening on such and such date and I would like to do an exchange for it".
By watching the RCI daily sightings, and with the help of Lawren2 and Faust on the RCI exchange forum, I was able to
use 2 of my banked RCI weeks I owned to get a Disney area timeshare in Anahiem with only a 30 day notice and the wonderful Pueblo Bonito in Mazatlan Mexico for March (of 2008) on less than a 6 month notice. All the other exchange companies have their own sightings threads. Go to
http://www.timeshareforums.com/forum...opportunities/ Spend sometime reviewing these to get an idea of the various resorts available. This would give you a better idea of which other exchange company you may want to join in addition to II.
I also joined TUGS ( Timeshare Users Group - Timeshare Owners Helping Each other, Unbiased Timeshare Information for All Owners, Buy Sell Rent Timeshare )
It was another $15 well spent. I review both TUGS and TS4MS sites daily and/or when I have the time to improve my knowledge of the world of timeshares and to see whats available. TUGS
has a lot of information similiar to TS4MS but also has what I found to be better reviews and rankings of timeshares worldwide. So, for example, you can select all Mexican resorts
and sort either by city location or by user rankings. These rankings also let you know which exchange companies handle each particuliar resort. I actually printed out copies of resort rankings for Mexico,Caribbean, Florida and California from TUGS
so when I am viewing resorts on above noted TS4MS exchange opportunities forums, I know if they are Gold Crown or 5 Star resorts. Although most old timers on TS4MS know this information inside out, for a "newbie" like myself, it has proved to be very beneficial. I hope the above info is helpful in starting the process of getting the exchanges you want.
Good luck!!! Paul

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

once again I can not say thanks enough!!!!! You have been so helpful!!!!!!!!!!!

[Arline Member Find all posts View Profile Close Arline]

Trading Places rocks

We just spent a month in Hawaii, the first 2 weeks we brought our son and his family. Out of the 6 timeshares used, 3 were trades obtained from Trading Places (Mauna Loa, Kona Hawaiian Resort and Hawaiian Princess-all 2brs. in the time frame we needed.) We just completed our last reservation for Hawaii next year when we plan to bring our daughter and her family for 3 weeks. Trading Places came through with a 2br. at Maui Schooner for July 5th. We are members of RCI, II, DAE and SFX and prefer to deal with TPI as the result of their personal customer relations and online deposit and booking abilities.

[LisaH Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close LisaH]

haleyj, I also own at SOK. This should be a very powerful trader with II.

Like everyone has said, you should reserve a week as soon as you can, preferably Jan-April or summer weeks. Do a on-going search for the area you want to go without depositing. This way, you still have control of your week. Do not deposit with II until you have to. Even then, I'd try to rent it first. I rented my summer SOK week successfully last year on eBay. It more than covered my expenses like M/F and taxes.

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

thank you so much for the advice. If my time period is from Sept to Sept --------It is now Sept. but I would like to book for next Oct. using the 2007 week can I do that. What I am saying if I can not find a good exchange and so I do not loose my week and know I can go to SOK end of Oct in 2008 can I do that do you know? Or would I have to bank it with someone?

[LisaH Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close LisaH]

No you have to book a week for Sept 2007 or earlier. Otherwise you lose the 2007 week from what I understand. Try to book a summer 2007 week. It's easier to rent than Sept or Oct week. If you want to go at the end of Oct next year, you can book a 2007 week and have a ongoing search with II, or call Consolidated Resort next month to reserve the use of your 2008 week for next Oct.

[Art Member Find all posts View Profile Close Art]

Haleyj

No one has specifically said this so I'll say it. Once you have a week and check-in reserved, you can search for an exchange week with a check-in date ranging from 12 months before to 24 months after the check-in date of the week you are giving up in trade.

The net result is that you can have up to a 3 year period in which you can obtain an exchange. For a off the wall example, the April 42nd, 2006 week you deposited with II last year can be used to obtain an exchange with a check-in date up to April 42nd, 2008.

If you haven't used the deposits you've made in past years, you could use one to request the May, 2008 Caribbean week that you want.

Art