Newbie question of the Day #1

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

I don't think most experienced timeshare owners would consider Orlando a "more desirable" location. It is extremely overbuilt, you can rent there supercheap except during school vacations.......

Just chiming in here to agree that Orlando weeks are mostly poor traders. They tend to have high annual fees, too. With timeshares, there is often no close relationship between what you spend, and the value you receive.

If I had to start with one exchange company, RCI would be my LAST choice. But since I am a member of 3 exchange companies, thinking about adding a 4th, I have learned how to maximize my RCI membership, and which weeks to give them as opposed to other companies, etc....

Agreeing with Glitter here again.

OK, tell me straight up then : I was told that you can trade DOWN if you own a desirable TS (location, week, etc) quite easily. What does it cost to trade UP?...

To clarify, it is easy to trade down in demand -- that is, a high demand week for a lower demand week. It is NOT easy to trade down in quality -- most timeshare exchange companies will not let you trade a luxurious resort for a plain one. This is because they get too many angry complaints from luxury resort owners who feel that they've been placed in a "dump."

As for paying to trade up, you really can't do that in II or in RCI Weeks. If you want to receive something high demand, you have to deposit something high demand. However, II and RCI each have somewhat different ideas as to which areas are "high demand." I believe that this is largely because RCI monopolizes the timeshare exchange industry, leaving II with shortages of weeks in various regions.

If what you want is Orlando in the off-season, that's a very easy trade. I'd I'd suggest finding a decent quality resort with a reasonable (it doesn't have to be high) demand, and trading through II. They have tons of high-quality Orlando inventory, and their fees are lower than RCI. II also has far fewer complaints than RCI. (There are a couple of people here who are dissatisfied with II, but far more who are dissatisfied with RCI. I personally, love II.)

[bluka Member Find all posts View Profile Close bluka]

Dont worry so much about chat rooms ect.. just keep reading the posts and learning as much as you can from the forum navigation and then eventually you'll start to get an understanding of the way you vacation and what system/ eg. points ,fixed ,floating week ect. will work for you.

Some of the best advice I got on this site is to keep it simple- buy were you love to vacation and use trading as an alternative to change things up once in a while.

Trust the people on this site for the info you will get.

You sound like the type of couple that can use timesharing to your advantage , just do it the right way and you will never regret it !

#not like bing! (inside joke)

[wallace2 Junior Member Find all posts View Profile Close wallace2]

Thx Bluka & Co,

Yeah, well unfortunately, I only became an LPR (Permanent resident) with permission to work just last year, so I am starting afresh with my annual leave entitlements .... grrrrrr. With a new job comes a clean vacation slate. Not until September of '08 will I be entitled to 2 weeks off. Double grrrrr.

But once we do get settled in with a TS, we are most certainly looking to exchange and travel (money permitting). Being a Kiwi, I am really looking fwd to taking Pam off to New Zealand in a couple or three yrs and give her the guided tour from a native.

But first things first ... gotta learn a bunch more about TS and the pitfalls that may catch us. We definitely want to take this opportunity and use it to maximum advantage. And I also want to take this opportunity to thank everyone on this board for their insight and willingness to share their knowledge and experiences. I know I have a TON more reading to do here, so I will get back to it now.

Thx again!!
Mike n Pam

[wallace2 Junior Member Find all posts View Profile Close wallace2]

This might be a retarded question, but is there any accountability anywhere for how the annual MFs are spent at resorts? Seems like the newest places have the highest MFs (regularly $500 to $700), but if they're so new, nothing should break down or be in need of immediate repair. Seems like just another way to screw the owners.... (can you say "profit", baby?)

Do all resorts have HOAs, and are the HOAs responsible for the accounting? The townhouse complex we live in has an HOA and annual reports are supplied as mandated to all members. I can't imagine how much money these big resorts must rake in under the guise of "maintenance" fees... let's see : Avg of $500 per yr per week per unit .... hmmm, $500 x 50 weeks = $25k x 200 condos = a cool five mil. Grrrrrrrr.

Just thinking out loud ...
Mikey

[ladycody Member Find all posts View Profile Close ladycody]

You might want to read through the thread below to understand the expenses of TS vs regular HOA. Your HOA doesnt have even half the expenses of a resort (there's less maintenance & utilities, no hskg, no reservations, lower insurance, no front desk staff or recreation staff, generally speaking~ a smaller mgt company can handle the property, etc)...so this thread might explain a bit. Hope it helps.

http://www.timeshareforums.com/forum...ance-fees.html

PS: It's not a retarded question.

[wallace2 Junior Member Find all posts View Profile Close wallace2]

OK, time for my next dumb (newbie) question. I can't find this info anywhere very easily at all, so here goes :

If you have a TS (annual or biennial, fixed week or floating) I understand that we can "deposit" or "bank" our right to use the TS, or even part of the rtu if it's a 2/2 or 3/3 with one of the exchange companies (II, RCI etc). In exchange for this deposit (and the payment of the appropriate fees --- annual membership plus the exchange fee), we can pick up accommodation at an alternative venue and/or week.

So far, so good (I hope). Now, at the sales presentation that we endured the salesperson told us that we can buy unlimited EXTRA weeks at the cost only of the exchange fee (approx $150 for U.S. domestics depending on the exchange co). Is this true, or BS? Any other fees? Any limitations (time between booking and the date of travel?), number of extra weeks?)

To me, (if this is true) this is one of the most appealing benefits to owning TS. I'm guessing that, again (IF IT IS TRUE), we have the inside running on units that would otherwise go empty, so the exchange co may as well get their $150 or so and have the unit occupied than get nothing for it. True or not?

Again, this is specifically aimed at learning more about buying EXTRA weeks of TS above and beyond our normal annual or biennial allotment.

Thanks to all (yet again LOL),
Mike n Pam

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

I'm guessing that, again (IF IT IS TRUE), we have the inside running on units that would otherwise go empty, so the exchange co may as well get their $150 or so and have the unit occupied than get nothing for it. True or not?

In other words, the crap that is leftover. If you sort through it, you can sometimes get lucky and find a gem, but it's a stinky job.

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

I'm a Fairfield points owner and I also own fixed weeks. The points systems such as WorldMark and Fairfield can be complicated to learn and use, but they do offer the flexibility of reserving for more or less than a full week. So if you can only take long weekends, this option is available to you in points based systems. Other TS systems may also offer this flexibility.

When exchanging FF or WM points in the RCI or II exchange systems, there is typically an internal exchange preference given to the owners at that resort system. So I can trade into a FF Hawaii resort banked in RCI before say a WM or Westgate TS owner will see those same FF exchanges. This internal excahnge preference may go away over time, as TS companies want to get "fresh blood" in to see and perhaps buy into their resorts.

I'm only an RCI Weeks member. My understanding of the RCI Points side is they may only be able to see and book within a specific time frame (up to XX months out) from say today, whereas in the Weeks system you can exchange up to 24 months out from the check in date of the week you've deposited into the Weeks system.

If you deposit or bank an RCI affiliated resort week more than 12 months before the check in date of that week, this would offer the best trading power (unless the week is a low season and/or its at a dog resort). RCI does offer bonus weeks if you deposit early and you can also trade up in unit size (a Studio or a 1Br unit can be exchanged for a 2Br unit) or resort quality.

RCI and other exchange systems typically discourage "trading down" in resort quality and use an internal computer restriction to enforce this. In RCI, its called Vacation Experience Profile (VEP), which is assigned based upon the RCI affiliated resort ownership at the time your RCI account is first set up.

FF does have certain resorts that trade via II. As another member has indicated, WM also trades via both systems. II typically requires a like for like exchange - eg a 1Br for a 1Br. II has some very high end TS available including Disney Vacation Club, Sheraton and Marriott. My understanding is that these all have an internal owner exchange preference in II.

My suggestion is to read up on the various TS forums, including any Yahoo groups that may be available for the TS companies you are interested in. Many forums and Yahoo groups are free and will admit you as a member if you are Still Looking and don't actually own that resort system yet. FF's Yahoo group is open to non-owners that are just interested in learning about the FF system.

If you had vacation time within the next year, I'd also recommend renting reservations from owners of the various TS systems you're interested in. Or look online for the weekend TS promotional getaways - you may get some benefits in exchange for the 90 - 120 minutes you commit to do a TS presentation. FF Las Vegas Grand Desert offers Party Weekends, where you can stay at their resort for 2-3 nights in a 1Br unit and it may include either Celine Dion concert tickets, Elton John tickets, Cirque do Soleil, etc. Othe FF resorts offer similar accomodations and entertainment options during the Party Weekend.

Many TS options are available, just keep reading and asking questions.

[Icc5 Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Icc5]

Worldmark

I'm another one that believes your best bet would be to buy Worldmark points discounted. You have several resorts in Arizona and surrounding states and you can join an exchange company to trade which Worldmark units trade very well.
Our experience was to buy three different resorts before we realized that we were constantly trading into Worldmark so we decided to add another weeks worth of points (when we bought most 2 bedrooms were 10,000 points for a week). Haven't regretted it one bit and the maintanience fees are cheaper then our other units.
Bart