New policies?

[timetraveler Member Find all posts View Profile Close timetraveler]

Mark, I'm confused and concerned about what seems to me to be two of your new policies that I've learned about on this board.

1. Only Platinum members can request 18 months in advance; Gold members may requst no more than 12 months in advance.
2. SFX begins actively searching for exchange confirmations 12 months before check-in.

I think these are new policies because of my experience exchanging through SFX in the past year when, as a Gold member, I was able to request further in advance and received a confirmation 14 months before check-in. Are they new?

Platinum membership is not a good value for me because I don't need or can't use its benefits. I'm not sure whether buying a Platinum membership just to request 6 months ahead of the Gold members would be worthwhile.
Like another poster, early confirmations are important to me for booking frequent flier award seats.
I am seriously considering depositing my 2008 week with a different exchange company because of SFX's new policies. But since I've been very happy with SFX in the past, I don't want to change without giving you an opportunity to comment.

[Mark @SFX Industry Representative Find all posts View Profile Close Mark @SFX]

Mark, I'm confused and concerned about what seems to me to be two of your new policies that I've learned about on this board.

1. Only Platinum members can request 18 months in advance; Gold members may requst no more than 12 months in advance.
2. SFX begins actively searching for exchange confirmations 12 months before check-in.

I think these are new policies because of my experience exchanging through SFX in the past year when, as a Gold member, I was able to request further in advance and received a confirmation 14 months before check-in. Are they new?

Platinum membership is not a good value for me because I don't need or can't use its benefits. I'm not sure whether buying a Platinum membership just to request 6 months ahead of the Gold members would be worthwhile.
Like another poster, early confirmations are important to me for booking frequent flier award seats.
I am seriously considering depositing my 2008 week with a different exchange company because of SFX's new policies. But since I've been very happy with SFX in the past, I don't want to change without giving you an opportunity to comment.

Timetraveler - thank you for your post and sharing your concerns with us.

The policies you mention are relatively new. Platinum mbers can request 18 months in advance. If prime time travel is the only time you can travel, this may put you at an advantage. If you were confirmed more than 12 months in advance in the past, the new policies were not in effect and we were all lucky the space was confirmed more than 12 months in advance. Point being the new policy really doesn't affect you.

Requesting 18 months in advance isn't the only benefit of Platinum, it is only one of several.

In addtion to requesting up to 18 months in advance...

Lower exchange fees

Online priority to access and book weeks from our Sell off list. This is where you can book about $1,500 worth of accommodations for an average of $399.

There are other benefits too ... But talking about Platinum is irrelevent in this conversation as your concern is as a Gold Member am I getting anything less than what I was getting before?

The answer is no.

Going to another exchange company that will cost you a membership fee of about $80 a year, and where you pay $30? $40? more per exchange, and where you are restricted to only their resorts in their system... and you don't have access to crown rate or 5 star resorts as bonus weeks that can be requested up to one year in advance... well that's your perogative, but it really doesn't make much sense...especially when you have been getting great exchanges with us.

The other exchange companies are good companies, and you do have a choice. As with anything in life... go with what best works for you.

Hope this helps...

[acesneights Member Find all posts View Profile Close acesneights]

Is the selloff list just updated daily and there is no new selloff list each month that Platinum have a 24 hour jump on or is there new inventory added in blocks?

Did you ever find out why some Platinum members don't get email notice of the new selloff lists?

Stan

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

On topic, per another thread here, has the procedural issue of a platinum 18 month request being entered and the account subsequently dropping to gold prior to the request being confirmed been clarified yet? Enquiring minds...

1. When the account degrades, is the request lost, re-qeued, ect.?

2. If not, does the request confirm at the gold rate and T&C's?

3. When is it appropriate to become "persistent", as the successful annecdotes here seem to indicate? Do requests for gold members require more "persistence" by members than for platinum? I ask this question because I prefer to spend my time earning a living as opposed to "working" with CSR's on the phone. If platinum membership affords me more "work" by the CSR's, that's an important benefit.

Pat

[Mark @SFX Industry Representative Find all posts View Profile Close Mark @SFX]

On topic, per another thread here, has the procedural issue of a platinum 18 month request being entered and the account subsequently dropping to gold prior to the request being confirmed been clarified yet? Enquiring minds...

1. When the account degrades, is the request lost, re-qeued, ect.?

2. If not, does the request confirm at the gold rate and T&C's?

3. When is it appropriate to become "persistent", as the successful annecdotes here seem to indicate? Do requests for gold members require more "persistence" by members than for platinum? I ask this question because I prefer to spend my time earning a living as opposed to "working" with CSR's on the phone. If platinum membership affords me more "work" by the CSR's, that's an important benefit.

Pat

Pat et al... I have been in Orlando all week at the ARDA convention ( American Resort Developer's Association). I will be back this weekend and will respond to all posts at that time.

[Mark @SFX Industry Representative Find all posts View Profile Close Mark @SFX]

Is the selloff list just updated daily and there is no new selloff list each month that Platinum have a 24 hour jump on or is there new inventory added in blocks?

Did you ever find out why some Platinum members don't get email notice of the new selloff lists?

Stan

Stan - The Vacation Sell-off List is now available 24/7 for Platinum Members to view and book units in real-time. It is updated every few days with new inventory. You never have to wait for an email with the information, you have constant access to it.

This method for obvious reasons presents a better service to our valued customers, and negates the need for emailing a list every month. One of the reasons we have done this is eliminate the problem of email delivery issues.

Hope this helps...

[Mark @SFX Industry Representative Find all posts View Profile Close Mark @SFX]

On topic, per another thread here, has the procedural issue of a platinum 18 month request being entered and the account subsequently dropping to gold prior to the request being confirmed been clarified yet? Enquiring minds...

1. When the account degrades, is the request lost, re-qeued, ect.?

2. If not, does the request confirm at the gold rate and T&C's?

3. When is it appropriate to become "persistent", as the successful annecdotes here seem to indicate? Do requests for gold members require more "persistence" by members than for platinum? I ask this question because I prefer to spend my time earning a living as opposed to "working" with CSR's on the phone. If platinum membership affords me more "work" by the CSR's, that's an important benefit.

Pat

Hi Pat - Finally back from the ARDA convention in Orlando. Thank you for your patience.

1. If you place a request as a Platinum member, and it comes to the renewal date of your membership, and you choose for whatever reason not to and drop down to Gold Membership... It does not affect your request in any way.

2. That is correct, you will be charged at the Gold Membership rate which is higher.

3. There is no correllation between being persistent and space all of a sudden appearing and becoming available. Agent's do not sit around waiting for Members to call being persistent. They are commissioned, and thus have all the motivation necessary to book Members as quickly as possible, "on the assumption the space is available".

The poster I believe you are referring to was brand new to timesharing, and as you know it's like a foreign language for quite a while and takes time for most people to grasp just the basics. Point being, she was in constant contact with us with many good questions about procedures and other nuances that can help make the process work.

If you have a request in search mode and you haven't been booked, it simply means what you are requesting is not currently available and the search continues. Timing is always an issue. If you see a period of time has gone by and your space hasn't become available, it makes good sense to start adding alernative dates and/or locations.

Hope this helps...

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

There were some errors in your request, please go back and try again.
Request# XXXXX Destination: Hawaii / Kauai Check-In Range: 11/21/2008 - 11/30/2008 *Search starts after membership expiration.
Extend your membership here Adults: 4 Children: 0 Room Size: 2 BR
Oops...

So, if I'm understanding the functionality correctly, if this same request was put in at the 12 month mark prior to requested occupancy, it would go through, since Gold members can request at that point. Interestingly, it didn't disallow the request because I'm more than 18 months in advance of requested occupancy, per the Platinum member terms. Hmmm...

I'll try again in a couple months....

Pat

[Mark @SFX Industry Representative Find all posts View Profile Close Mark @SFX]

There were some errors in your request, please go back and try again.
Request# XXXXX Destination: Hawaii / Kauai Check-In Range: 11/21/2008 - 11/30/2008 *Search starts after membership expiration.
Extend your membership here Adults: 4 Children: 0 Room Size: 2 BR
Oops...

So, if I'm understanding the functionality correctly, if this same request was put in at the 12 month mark prior to requested occupancy, it would go through, since Gold members can request at that point. Interestingly, it didn't disallow the request because I'm more than 18 months in advance of requested occupancy, per the Platinum member terms. Hmmm...

I'll try again in a couple months....

Pat

Pat - the error message occured because you are requesting dates that are past the expiration date of your Platinum Membership. As with the "other" exchange companies, you membership dues must be current through the use of your deposited week. If you were to renew your Platinum Membership fee at this time, it would be effective concurrently and allow the window of time to open up.

Another option is to let your Platinum membership expire, default down to Gold and pay a higher exchange fee, placing the request at the maximum of 12 months in advance, instead of 18 months in advance.

Hope this helps...

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

Thanks Mark. I assumed the software logic was working correctly but wanted to verify. I'll try again just within the 12 month window (while still Platinum) to confirm. No worries about booking FF miles at 331 days for this kid

Pat