How much more sophisticated have you become in exchanging?

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

After reading a number of recent threads about Orlando exchanging, SFX threads, bulkbanks, etc, I got thinking about how sophisticated it seems to be now in exchanging, regardless of the exchange company. I haven't been doing this as long as a number of you when there was the golden age of exchanging when it was like "shooting fish in a barrel" to get your RCI exchange.

It seems threads now are "how do I stretch my ownership" as far as I can go?". You have to get your foot in the door with this mini-system or that priority period. You got everyone trying to work the system. SFX is getting knocked because they're using a "different proprietary system" that doesn't seem to provide more experienced TS folks the same level of information they need to "optimize their ownership." RCI sucks on this or that because of renting or cutting back on bulkbank availability or limitation on size of unit trading, etc.

To me as a user of the exchange systems, I need to become more strategic and sophisticated in how I deposit, when I deposit and with whom. This is all I know. I'm thinking a lot of the older folks either can't or don't want to make this transition and that's why there is so much secondary market availability.

Where does this all lead and how far can you push it? I'm not sure I would want to be operating an exchange company in this day and age because the customer demands are really getting high and the margins are getting squeezed.

[jackio Gold Contributor Find all posts View Profile Close jackio]

Although we as a group have become much more sophisticated through the past 10 years or so, and we expect more from our exchange experiences, I don't think we represent timeshare owners as a whole. I believe the vast majority of owners are still of the request-and-hope-for-the-best group. These are the people that keep the exchange companies going. They are the ones that join the independents not to expand their horizons, but because they are discouraged with the 2 major ones. Many of them let their weeks go to waste each year because they don't know how to maximize their ownership.
As for myself, I have learned so much in the last few years. The biggest thing I have learned is the perceived value of an exchange. In years past, I would have been so happy to get an exchange to a place I wanted to go during a time I wanted to travel. Now I weigh the "value" and often decide I don't want to waste a "good" week on an exchange.

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

djyamyam, you summarize the evolution pretty well!

Sophistication is only one word I would apply to our technique, though... for we are also proactive or reactive..

....if the exchange giant (where we first cut our TS teeth) has turned into a monster with no customer service level, our reactive selves are quick to turn to alternatives..

..then we become proactive, as we spread the word, offer advice to one another, find a way to skirt the BIG 2 by growing the independents or creating our own internal relationships that allow free and happy vacationing.....so along with sophisticated, I think we are growing older and wiser.

So here we are, where we may learn that someone's "system" is just a come-on, or we might find something useful in the discussion. We can spot a shill and we can advise unwitting newbies. The evolution has become a revolution in many ways.

Minis, maxis, weeks, points, Big 2, independents, swap-happy, freebies, hi season, lo season, weak trade, tiger....you name it, we can analyze, tear it down, build it back up, re-invent it.

We sometimes give the "enemy" (Big 2) too much credit, when it is we who have shaped much of what is happening in the TS world.

When thru our determination to wring out value and turn the newly invented systems on their heads, we become truly euphoric in victory.

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

In years past, I would have been so happy to get an exchange to a place I wanted to go during a time I wanted to travel. Now I weigh the "value" and often decide I don't want to waste a "good" week on an exchange.

Sometimes, I explicitly *ignore* the value side of the equation---especially when what I'm looking for for my own vacation isn't what most people value. Sometimes, it really is about going where I want to go, when I want to get there, and if I'm using a more expensive unit to get a less expensive one, in MF terms, well, I can live with that.

Luckily, that doesn't happen very often.

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

Minis, maxis, weeks, points, Big 2, independents, swap-happy, freebies, hi season, lo season, weak trade, tiger....you name it, we can analyze, tear it down, build it back up, re-invent it.
We sometimes give the "enemy" (Big 2) too much credit, when it is we who have shaped much of what is happening in the TS world.

and this is how it should be.

We are all non-appointed consumer advocates for the industry. Everything seems to be in flux at the moment and we should use care on how things happen going forward for it will be our legacy.

I am very interested in the reinventing part. Hopefully sooner rather than later.