The waiting game worked for me-confirmed FF Kona Village today

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

I decided to roll the dice and hold out for something in Hawaii in the 14 day window. RCI came through for me even sooner. 30 days from today I'll be checking into the Fairfield Kona Hawaiian Resort!

I booked air tickets (using AA miles) one month ago into Honolulu, out of Kona. Booked a hotel in Waikiki for the first week. Then I started an on-going on-line search with RCI and waited. I didn't expect much with such short notice. So I started checking daily for what places would pop up in the 14 day window.

In the mean time I grabbed an inter-island flight from Honolulu to Kona when Aloha had their one day sale for $29 (one way, each).

I got a few matches with non-stellar resorts with my on-going search but I turned them down based on the high quality resorts I was seeing in the 14-21 day window. My DH said if I was going to play the game I had to be patient and willing to hold out.

This morning I turned on my computer, signed on to my account and there it was, a match with the resort that was the top of my wish list.

Thanks to everyone for all the advise and for being on the lookout for me!

[philsfan Administrator Find all posts View Profile Close philsfan]

Way to go Pam! Call them and ask for a top floor unit or one of the single unit buildings.

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

Was it a points exchange or a weeks exchange?

I have seen way more weeks exchanges lately. They seem to be holding back on the good ones lately for the last-minute 9,000 points weeks.

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

This was a weeks exchange. I inherited my timeshare from the dad and I'm not going to cough up the money to convert to points. I've been VERY happy with my weeks exchanges over the past five years.

Thanks Len! I really would prefer a top floor unit, we don't mind stairs. I've printed the resort map and will be armed with all the research from this forum to request the best unit

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

..................enjoy!!!!

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

Good for you!

[DDI Par Member Find all posts View Profile Close DDI Par]

Nice!

Pam/Vinolover:

Congrats on winning the waiting game! What trader did you use to get all those RCI hits for Hawaii? We have three great traders, but haven't been in the Hawaii search mode for a while. Since RCI came through for you at the last minute with the Fairfield resort, your number one choice, were the other resorts that you "walked on by" also within the last minute window? Bottom line: Good going!

DDI Par

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

Pam/Vinolover:

Congrats on winning the waiting game! What trader did you use to get all those RCI hits for Hawaii? We have three great traders, but haven't been in the Hawaii search mode for a while. Since RCI came through for you at the last minute with the Fairfield resort, your number one choice, were the other resorts that you "walked on by" also within the last minute window? Bottom line: Good going!

DDI Par

I traded with a 1BR Fairfield Pagosa, it's a red week but not nearly the trading power of Hawaii weeks. I have had very good luck getting Hawaii (Bay Club, Pahio Shearwater, Pahio KEK and Cliffs Club-all 2BR units) but I only go off season in spring or fall.

I did get matches to my on-going on-line search a couple of times each week since I started the search last month.

For this last minute trade I turned down:

Kona Billfisher- not a great resort from I could see, really old reviews so I guess it's pretty low on everyone's list.

Bay Club (1 BR since I read they had bad views of the parking lots from the 1BR units- I would have taken a 2BR there but since we've already been there we wanted to stay in Kona this time)

Fairfield Royal Sea Cliff- Again, based on reviews (some really poor reviews on TripAdvisor) plus it seemed too sterile and hotel-like.

Paniolo Greens- This was another top pick on our list but my DH wanted me to wait and see if I could match the FF Kona Village so I turned it down. Paniolo pops up regularly so I figured I would have that as an option again if the other match hadn't happened.

Club Regina at Kona Reef-I think the reviews are getting better but it didn't seem special enough for this trip.

I admit I was really being picky since this trip is to celebrate my DH's 50th. I'm sure many of the places I turned down would be fine.

Before I narrowed my search to the Big Island I also had matches for Maui, Kauai and Oahu.

So, as you can see, there are still LOTS of Hawaii trades out there, especially if you can be flexible (and patient).

[Glitter Brunello Super Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close Glitter Brunello]

Vinolover,
Congrats on your exchange!! AND I totally agree with your analysis, we LOVED FFKHV the best of our three week trip, ENJOY!!

If you don't already have it, buy Big Island Revealed, and if handicap accessibility is not an issue, BE SURE TO RENT A 4 WD VEHICLE!! If you can manage a Wrangler instead of the standard Jeep Laredo, you will make it further than we did on some roads to hidden treasure beaches/coastline.

Enjoy!!

Aloha,
Avery

[Ann-Marie Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Ann-Marie]

I was able to get my FFKHV trade through SFX in about 5 months. RCI never came through. I kept the trade going for 14 months.

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

Avery,

Thanks! A big part of my decision to hold out for FFKHV was the comment you made about going there from Bay Club was like going from Florida to Hawaii. We loved Bay Club when we stayed there six years ago. We had a great 2BR with golf course sunset views. But, I wanted a different experience this time.

Don't know how much driving around we'll do this time, This is our 5th trip to the Big Island. That's why a tropical resort with a nice lanai was so important to me. We'll spend some time hanging loose, reading books and drinking mai tais

One thing I will miss about not being in Waikoloa are the walking paths. We like to walk in the mornings and evenings and it looks like our only choice around FFKHV is the walk into Kona. We'll probably take a day to do some hiking at Volcano.

Added Big Island Revealed to my collection of Blue Books about a month ago. I spent all day yesterday with my nose in the book!

Glad you're having such a great trip. Can't wait to see your photos!

Aloha
Pam