fixed vs. floating

[dougp26364 Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close dougp26364]

We've had both fixed weeks and float weeks. The two fixed weeks we've owned have both been converted to floating weeks. It just works out better for us. Keep in mind that at the present time, I have the ability to vary when I travel and plan and book at least 1 year in advance. Eventually, things changed and the fixed weeks we owned no longer worked for us. It got to the point were they had to be exchaned every year for the dates we wanted. So, they've been converted to floating weeks. One week we had to upgrade, the other was placed in DRI's THE Club when DRI bought out Sunterra.

As has been mentioned several times, individual needs and preferences will vary. We don't want to travel on popular holidays and we don't have children in school who's school calander has to be worked around. We do travel a little during the summer but the exact week isn't important to us and, we stay away from the holiday crowds.

My preference right now is to belong to systems that offer floating weeks and internal exchange options. DRI and HGVC's point based reservations systems are working out better for us than trying to exchange like for like weeks right now with our Marriott ownership. Of course, this wouldn't be so great if I wanted to return to the same resort over the same week year after year. If you want or need a specific holiday week, summer week or other specific week then a fixed week is the way to go.

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

I own in Bluegreen so feel I get the best of both worlds. I do own a week ("fixed"), but never claim it, I use the points instead ("float"). When it comes time to make a deposit, I can select the resort, week and unit type (possibly unit number, never asked for it). If I don't need much trading power, I use as few points as possible. If I need really good trading power, I can spend more points on it.

Many many options out there to consider. Please note, there are still some fixed weeks in Bluegreen resorts that are not on the point system.

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

Not always....

So owning a floating week is very flexible, but does take some planning to get what you want.

I learned some years ago (....the hard way, of course) that there are sometimes hidden obstacles to the alleged "flexibility" of floating weeks.

Back then, although I had at least learned enough to "only buy resale", I still did not know enough at the time to specifically inquire about any exisiting reservation restrictions, or "blackout periods". My seller failed to ever mention to me that weeks 5-15 (constituting most of the entire winter) were actually completely excluded from reservation by float week owners at this (Florida) resort and I did not know enough at the time to even consider that such a possibility might exist. The ONLY time I wanted (then or now) to set foot in Florida where this particular facility is located was in the winter, between (you guessed it --- weeks 5-15, or exactly when I was not allowed to reserve a week).

In short summary, in my under-informed ignorance, I had purchased something essentially useless to me (albeit at resale pricing). I resold the week for considerably less than 1/3 what I had paid, without ever even going to the resort, just to be rid of it and the annually billed reminder of my own stupidity. I learned along the way that this time frame reservation restriction (blackout period) was long and firmly in place and quite common at numerous other facilities in that particular geographic area.

We all live and learn. The moral of my story is simply that that one should always very clearly and very specifically inquire into (and learn all about) any and all exisiting restrictions imposed upon the owners of floating weeks at the specific resort under consideration for purchase. "Flexible" sometimes actually means "flexible sometimes, but with specific limitations and critically important exceptions"...