Your trading habits - how far out (or close in) do you exchange.

[GrayFal Silver Contributor and supermoderator Find all posts View Profile Close GrayFal]

How far ahead do you plan your TS trips?

My first TS ownerships were all with II so my usual trade time was 12-13 months out to get those Marriott to Marriott trades when they were first deposited.

When I joined RCI, it was a big adjustment to start looking 2 years out - who the heck knows what your vacation time will be or kids school schedule?

I did recently confirm an exchange to Paris at exactly two years out and one time I confirmed an exchange the SAME DAY as check-in to replace an exchange gone wrong in Europe.

What are your exchanging habits?

[Sydney Contributor - Bronze Find all posts View Profile Close Sydney]

I'm all over the place. I do searches for all school vacation periods from a few months to 2 years out. The only problem with booking far in advance of check-in is that our plans do change. Many times with booking over a year out, I've had to cancel exchanges and pay cancellation fees. I think this past 18 months, I've lost at least $700 in cancellations which is a pain but I figure it's better to nab a good exchange in case we use it than to lose an opportunity.

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

I used to be a last minute booker but since hanging out with you guys I've gotten more into the planning.
Hopefully I can do everything I've planned right now.
I've already got an exchange for 2015 thru RCI.
I've never before planned vacations 2 years out til I joined here.

I've done same day exchanges too when things didn't work out for one reason or another by calling RCI.
Had to do it in the Berkshires a few years ago.
I've also done very last minute DAE bonus weeks with weeks that had already started.
Just used the rest of the week that was left. Still came out really cheap compared to a motel.

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

I tried doing 2 years out a few times, but it never worked out. Each time, I wound up having to cancel for one reason or another. These days, I'm doing one year out to last minute......If I'm inviting friends, I prefer last minute, or close to it. If it's just DH & myself, I prefer one yearish out. If the kids are involved, I try not to book too much further than 6 - 8 months out, and keep my fingers crossed. Lol.

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

I'm totally glommed on to the RCI way, so planning two years out is normal for us. I know where we'll be in summer 2015. DH is a teacher, so we have the whole summer to use. But we rarely plan anything for the rest of the year due to shifting schedules.

We only had to cancel one exchange--a trip to Canada at the end of the summer, and it turned out that one of our kids had to start college that week.

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

I tried doing 2 years out a few times, but it never worked out. Each time, I wound up having to cancel for one reason or another. These days, I'm doing one year out to last minute......If I'm inviting friends, I prefer last minute, or close to it. If it's just DH & myself, I prefer one yearish out. If the kids are involved, I try not to book too much further than 6 - 8 months out, and keep my fingers crossed. Lol.

This is so true about travelling with friends.
Mine can't or won't commit far in advance.
I guess I understand cause life happens.
Being single, I don't have as many things to think about as my "married with children" friends.

[DaveHenry Member Find all posts View Profile Close DaveHenry]

How far ahead do you plan your TS trips?

My first TS ownerships were all with II so my usual trade time was 12-13 months out to get those Marriott to Marriott trades when they were first deposited.

When I joined RCI, it was a big adjustment to start looking 2 years out - who the heck knows what your vacation time will be or kids school schedule?

I did recently confirm an exchange to Paris at exactly two years out and one time I confirmed an exchange the SAME DAY as check-in to replace an exchange gone wrong in Europe.

What are your exchanging habits?

I also just confirmed a Paris exchange at two years out. Usually I start looking about 18 months out in RCI, a year out in II.

[GrayFal Silver Contributor and supermoderator Find all posts View Profile Close GrayFal]

This is so true about travelling with friends.
Mine can't or won't commit far in advance.
I guess I understand cause life happens.
Being single, I don't have as many things to think about as my "married with children" friends.

Don't forget your"single with pets" friends

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

Don't forget your"single with pets" friends

Yeah them too.

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

I tried doing 2 years out a few times, but it never worked out. Each time, I wound up having to cancel for one reason or another. These days, I'm doing one year out to last minute......If I'm inviting friends, I prefer last minute, or close to it. If it's just DH & myself, I prefer one yearish out. If the kids are involved, I try not to book too much further than 6 - 8 months out, and keep my fingers crossed. Lol.

The same thing happens to me. Now I'm more like 6 months out.

[catwgirl Contributor - Bronze Find all posts View Profile Close catwgirl]

I generally book vacations about 6 months to 1 year ahead. I am very fortunate that I have not had to cancel any confirmed vacations and I hope it stays that way!

[Pat H Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Pat H]

Mine used to be 2 yrs out but now it's more like 1 - 1 1/2 yrs.

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

We only had to cancel one exchange--a trip to Canada at the end of the summer, and it turned out that one of our kids had to start college that week.

I think this exchange was to one of the Canadian resorts that everybody is saying was their worst exchange ever in the other thread. So it's probably just as well that we canceled.

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

All of our exchanges for the past 16 years have been with SFX. We don't have any schedules to adhere to but we do pick particular times based on weather considerations. How long ahead of time we make our exchange is dictated by where we are going Some times it was only 3 or 4 months ahead and other times 12-15 months ahead. Mexico and Las Vegas don't require much planning ahead as they are very easy to exchange into. On the other hand Scottsdale AZ for March required at least a year due to MLB Spring Training. For the last few years and going forward, all our exchanges are to New York City and Waikiki. These, we usually make about 9-12 months ahead. I do request specific resorts.

[gandalf252002 Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close gandalf252002]

I have a tendancy to schedule both well in advance and last minute depending on the mood. I have two weeks booked for March of 2015 which is the farthest out I booked, but have also made reservations the week I want to go away if there was something available. It all depends on what is available at the moment I am looking for stuff. I'm not tied to summer, but have limited vacation time so try and plan accordingly around holidays and my partners schedule whenever possible.