Only Prime Time Weeks?

[Miss Understood Member Find all posts View Profile Close Miss Understood]

I am a member, but am still not clear on a few points. I notice when requesting an exchange that language comes up to the effect "You are requesting a high demand period week." I was under the impression that SFX only takes high quality resorts and only takes prime weeks, i.e. warm weather locations like the Caribbean primarily during the winter, and cold weather locations like Maine and Rhode Island during the summer months. Do you take good resorts in any season, but only give bonus weeks for depositing the prime weeks?

The reason I ask is because if SFX only takes prime resorts in prime weeks, then it seems it should not be difficult to obtain an exchange during the prime weeks, but if SFX takes a lot of off-season/shoulder season weeks, it is likely that obtaining an exchange during the prime weeks might be just as difficult as with the larger exchange companies.

As it is now nearly May, at what point should the hope of obtaining an exchange for this summer be abandoned?

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

I am a member, but am still not clear on a few points. I notice when requesting an exchange that language comes up to the effect "You are requesting a high demand period week." I was under the impression that SFX only takes high quality resorts and only takes prime weeks, i.e. warm weather locations like the Caribbean primarily during the winter, and cold weather locations like Maine and Rhode Island during the summer months. Do you take good resorts in any season, but only give bonus weeks for depositing the prime weeks?

The reason I ask is because if SFX only takes prime resorts in prime weeks, then it seems it should not be difficult to obtain an exchange during the prime weeks, but if SFX takes a lot of off-season/shoulder season weeks, it is likely that obtaining an exchange during the prime weeks might be just as difficult as with the larger exchange companies.

As it is now nearly May, at what point should the hope of obtaining an exchange for this summer be abandoned?

Miss Understood - thank you for your post. Good questions...

SFX has been in business now about 17 years. In the earlier days, we would generally place our deposit requirements for not just high quality, but also prime time. Over the years, the demographic and psychographic of the member base has changed, as the kids have grown and left the household, the parents now find they have more free time on their hands, with more discretionary disposable income, and can be much more flexible with their travel plans. Whereas at one time their needs were for prime-time only, now they can travel in the lesser demanded seasons when kids are in school and places are not so crowded, with over priced airfares.

With this dynamic shift, we find ourselves accepting high quality resorts both during and outside of the prime-demand windows to meet the needs of our Members. However, the Special Promotions we offer are incentives for the high-demand season only.

As with "all" exchange companies, the demand for prime time is greater than the supply of space, and therefore has lesser availability than non-peak seasons, especially in the finer resorts where there is more of a propensity of Owners to use their time, rather than trade it.

It doesn't matter who the exchange company is, there is always more exchangeable time in the lesser demanded seasons than there is in prime demand time. Owners always have first priority on space at their resorts. Prime time obviously having more demand get's booked first by owners, and is therefore less available to exchangers, especially when the resort is sold-out of all it's developer's inventory.

With regards to your question about a Summer time booking... If you would be kind enough to email me at accounts@sfx-resorts.com your name and account number, I will gladly review your requests, and respond to you privately, not publicly... as your account transactions are confidential.

Thanks...

[Miss Understood Member Find all posts View Profile Close Miss Understood]

As with "all" exchange companies, the demand for prime time is greater than the supply of space, and therefore has lesser availability than non-peak seasons.

It doesn't matter who the exchange company is, there is always more exchangeable time in the lesser demanded seasons than there is in prime demand time. Owners always have first priority on space at their resorts. Prime time obviously having more demand gets booked first by owners, and is therefore less available to exchangers, especially when the resort is sold-out of all it's developer's inventory.

I think it's good that SFX offers off-season trades since, as you noted, many people have schedules that allow off-peak travel, and they want to stay in nice quality resorts in high-demand locations.

Naturally owners reserve and occupy or rent many of the "best weeks" rather than deposit them. Regardless of how many or how few good weeks are deposited, the ratio between good weeks deposited, and good weeks handed out as exchanges, should remain equal. The problem appears to arise when owners of shoulder season weeks exchange for prime weeks, thereby reducing the inventory of the best weeks so that the owner of a prime week may find nothing of equal value left for himself, particularly if he does not make his exchange request very early.

This seems to be a problem faced by every exchange company. If off-season depositors were only allowed to exchange for off season weeks, it seems that owners of prime weeks would seldom have trouble confirming a prime week. While it sounds like a simple solution, it probably wouldn't work out so well in the real world, or you would already be imposing similar restrictions. I don't know what the solution is.

[falmouth3 Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close falmouth3]

I may be an odd ball, but I own floating weeks and I always reserve prime weeks. I have yet to visit my own resorts, so these weeks are always deposited for exchange. However, not having children or being otherwise restricted in choice of vacation time, I like to travel at off-peak times. Hopefully someone will be delighted to get the weeks I've deposited.

Sue

[Miss Understood Member Find all posts View Profile Close Miss Understood]

I may be an odd ball, but I own floating weeks and I always reserve prime weeks. I have yet to visit my own resorts, so these weeks are always deposited for exchange. However, not having children or being otherwise restricted in choice of vacation time, I like to travel at off-peak times. Hopefully someone will be delighted to get the weeks I've deposited.

Sue

I'm sure your weeks are much appreciated, and the fact that you are willing to travel off-peak should mean that you exchange into some great resorts with relative ease. I have three weeks of vacation, one fixed prime week (Maui), one floating week which I always book for Thanksgiving (Hawaii), and one fixed week that falls on Thanksgiving week some years, but not most (Orlando). My goal is to use the two Hawaii weeks most of the time to travel to warm locations during the winter, therefore I need prime week exchanges. The Orlando week I consider off-season despite it being a "red week" (unless it falls on Thanksgiving), and when it is a non-Thanksgiving week I don't expect anything but an off season exchange.

Sue, I imagine you want to go somewhere that has a favorable climate for vacationing, but is simply not the high tourist season. I'm OK with that, too, at least part of the time, but I'd like to take an off-season week by choice, not because it's all I could get.

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

..........The problem appears to arise when owners of shoulder season weeks exchange for prime weeks, thereby reducing the inventory of the best weeks so that the owner of a prime week may find nothing of equal value left for himself, particularly if he does not make his exchange request very early.

This seems to be a problem faced by every exchange company. If off-season depositors were only allowed to exchange for off season weeks, it seems that owners of prime weeks would seldom have trouble confirming a prime week. While it sounds like a simple solution, it probably wouldn't work out so well in the real world, or you would already be imposing similar restrictions. I don't know what the solution is.

Miss Understood - it really doesn't operate the way you mention... The main exchange companies assign a value to the weeks deposited called "Trading-Power". This formula includes a number of factors that create a value on your deposit. The higher the value, the higher the trading-power (priority) you have in the system.

One of the factors is the Supply vs. Demand for the season of your deposited week. Members depositing an "off-season" (lesser-demand week), can only request in an equal season and not the "prime-time". The only exception to that rule is 60 days or less prior to the requested travel dates. (Last minute).

................" If off-season depositors were only allowed to exchange for off season weeks, it seems that owners of prime weeks would seldom have trouble confirming a prime week"...........

Unfortunately this isn't so ..... If there are 10,000 weeks of prime time deposited weeks from those who own in Hog's Breath Dakota, and only 2,000 prime time weeks from those who own in Hawaii in any given year, the people who own in Hog's Breath may have deposited prime time, but they will have a big problem getting booked in Hawaii as Demand is still greater than Supply.

Thanks,

[Miss Understood Member Find all posts View Profile Close Miss Understood]

................" If off-season depositors were only allowed to exchange for off season weeks, it seems that owners of prime weeks would seldom have trouble confirming a prime week"...........

Unfortunately this isn't so ..... If there are 10,000 weeks of prime time deposited weeks from those who own in Hog's Breath Dakota, and only 2,000 prime time weeks from those who own in Hawaii in any given year, the people who own in Hog's Breath may have deposited prime time, but they will have a big problem getting booked in Hawaii as Demand is still greater than Supply.

Thanks,

Yes, I understand and agree that members may not always get their first choice of exchange, as supply and demand are never in total harmony. I am not finding fault with SFX, or with any exchange company that plays fair with their method of assigning trade power and granting exchanges. One thing that I particularly like about SFX is that they have good quality resorts in good locations, so no member ends up getting a rat-trap timeshare in exchange for a nice resort. In the Hog's Breath example above, the Hog's Breath timeshare owners may not get an exchange into Hawaii, but if they provide a list of half a dozen or a dozen acceptable destinations they should be able to get a prime time exchange somewhere, rather than being left with only an off-season week because nothing in the prime season was available.

It is reassuring to hear you say elsewhere in your post that off-season exchangers are given an exchange "in kind," meaning they get off-season/similar value weeks. That gives the owners of prime weeks a good chance of receiving a prime week in exchange. No, you can't guarantee that they will get their first choice of week or location, but it increases their odds of getting a prime time exchange somewhere. I think many timeshare owners no longer believe that RCI and II adhere to the policy of "like for like." The big companies seem principally concerned with earning exchange fees and selling weeks as rentals. It is very discouraging. That is why so many members are moving to alternative exchange companies such as SFX, hoping to escape systems whose first priority is not the customer's satisfaction.

Thanks for taking the time to examine the complexities of this issue and share the policies and perspective of SFX.

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

I may be an odd ball, but I own floating weeks and I always reserve prime weeks. I have yet to visit my own resorts, so these weeks are always deposited for exchange. However, not having children or being otherwise restricted in choice of vacation time, I like to travel at off-peak times. Hopefully someone will be delighted to get the weeks I've deposited.

Sue

We do exactly the same thing. We own coastal California floating weeks. I always reserve prime summer weeks ( often the July 4th week ) to maximize my trading power. After I reserve the week(s) I then deposit them to SFX. Like you, we do not like to travel during prime time, especially when the kids are out of school. We just make our requests whenever we decide to go somewhere. It is all very simple.

[Miss Understood Member Find all posts View Profile Close Miss Understood]

We do exactly the same thing. We own coastal California floating weeks. I always reserve prime summer weeks ( often the July 4th week ) to maximize my trading power. After I reserve the week(s) I then deposit them to SFX. Like you, we do not like to travel during prime time, especially when the kids are out of school. We just make our requests whenever we decide to go somewhere. It is all very simple.

It is somewhat easier for someone who lives in a climate where it is warm and favorable for vacationing pretty much all year long. (Assuming you request vacation exchanges within your home region). It is somewhat more difficult for those, like myself, who live in the North East. Off-season in the North East takes on a very different meaning compared to a region that enjoys a reasonably consistent climate. We need to vacation in prime summer months if we intend to exchange within our home region, otherwise we will spend our vacations shivering and miserable. Also, the entire vacation experience is radically different during the off-season as most anything worth doing is closed for the year once you're outside of the timeframe of Memorial Day to Labor Day.