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Oct 2009 - April 2010
I am relatively new to TS exchanging. I purchased one every other year at VI in 2002. Stayed at my first TS in 2006 using the VI points before they expired. Met my (now) husband at VI Torres Mazatlan in 2006 and have been trying to figure out how to use his inventory.
I would appreciate any advice on how to plan winter 2009/2010
We can use TS points to completely pay long cruises. SFO - Sydney is a likely start in Sep 2009. Or the Princess Round Austrailia Oct 17, 2009. Then TS in Australia/NZ/Bora Bora or maybe Phuket, Thailand. We also want to take Official Website of the Palace On Wheels Inc - Book Tickets for luxury train in Rajasthan, India Online "Palace on Wheels" train tour in India that includes Taj Mahal. If we are in Hawaii through March, then it might be cheaper to get over to Bejing, China. We had planned a 30 day China Focus tour but now we guess Tibet is off the program. My husband wants to go to China but not in winter and not July when it is too hot.
Hawaii/American Samoa/Guam are nice because we can get our USPS 'snow bird' mail forward since it is US. Family can call us with their unlimited nationwide long distance calling plans. Our US cell phones work etc. Hawaii is convenient for medical care. My husband has Macular Degeneration and is starting to get shots in his eyes every 4-6 weeks. Choosing an island in Hawaii to establish a relationship for medical care in 2009/2010 and future visits probably every other year is important.
These are exchanges I'd like to use up:
1) Vacation Internationale - we'll have 1,000 VI points internally banked and I'd like to start using them up in every 2nd or 3rd year in Hawaii if that makes sense. VI is often 91 points per week. So 1,000 = about 10 weeks. VI has about 10 properties in Hawaii. We stayed at Pono Kai in Sep 2007 with both VI & our Pono Kai ownership. I wasn't too impressed compared to the Marriott resorts on Kauai.
2) http://PlatinumInterchange.com we have 4 weeks expire Oct 2009 (might have to pay to extend or lose them)
3) http://Intervalworld.com - we currently have these weeks banked with II:
- Jockey Club
- Accommodation Certificate rec'd for Jockey Club
- El Rancho - Mazatlan(we can bank 3 more with El Rancho)
- Playa Maria - Mazatlan - 3 weeks booked recently, we have to figure out whether to bank 5 more soon (We had 12 weeks internally banked with PM but the new owner decided we must use everything this year. We found out a few weeks ago. I hesitate to 'dump' 8 weeks in II so I might put some in various exchange companies like DAE etc
4) I've debated whether to bank with SFX as we have a membership. But the recent threads on TS4SM regarding SFX scare me. The quoted email from the SFX employee that seemed to indicate that the problem was that the SFX member's week was not good enough (I don't recall the exact words) makes me wonder if I deposit with SFX if they will treat me in a similar fashion. (We have plenty of great inventory we could deposit.)
I called SFX and asked to speak to Mark and was told "Mark will not accept telephone calls" - not sure if that is true or I the SFX employee was too new.
5) Probably bank our 2009 Pono Kai and use our 2010 Pono Kai back to back.
My husband purchased from Glen Ivy about 1988 or so. It is now managed by Bluegreen.
I wasn't too impressed with Pono Kai and would exchange those weeks if we can be in better resorts.
6) http://RCI.com - we might have 200 to 400 RCI points to use up. Also several RCI weeks but not sure what they'll exchange for except for LM.
I would appreciate any advice on how to plan winter 2009/2010
We can use TS points to completely pay long cruises. SFO - Sydney is a likely start in Sep 2009. Or the Princess Round Austrailia Oct 17, 2009. Then TS in Australia/NZ/Bora Bora or maybe Phuket, Thailand. We also want to take Official Website of the Palace On Wheels Inc - Book Tickets for luxury train in Rajasthan, India Online "Palace on Wheels" train tour in India that includes Taj Mahal. If we are in Hawaii through March, then it might be cheaper to get over to Bejing, China. We had planned a 30 day China Focus tour but now we guess Tibet is off the program. My husband wants to go to China but not in winter and not July when it is too hot.
Hawaii/American Samoa/Guam are nice because we can get our USPS 'snow bird' mail forward since it is US. Family can call us with their unlimited nationwide long distance calling plans. Our US cell phones work etc. Hawaii is convenient for medical care. My husband has Macular Degeneration and is starting to get shots in his eyes every 4-6 weeks. Choosing an island in Hawaii to establish a relationship for medical care in 2009/2010 and future visits probably every other year is important.
These are exchanges I'd like to use up:
1) Vacation Internationale - we'll have 1,000 VI points internally banked and I'd like to start using them up in every 2nd or 3rd year in Hawaii if that makes sense. VI is often 91 points per week. So 1,000 = about 10 weeks. VI has about 10 properties in Hawaii. We stayed at Pono Kai in Sep 2007 with both VI & our Pono Kai ownership. I wasn't too impressed compared to the Marriott resorts on Kauai.
2) http://PlatinumInterchange.com we have 4 weeks expire Oct 2009 (might have to pay to extend or lose them)
3) http://Intervalworld.com - we currently have these weeks banked with II:
- Jockey Club
- Accommodation Certificate rec'd for Jockey Club
- El Rancho - Mazatlan(we can bank 3 more with El Rancho)
- Playa Maria - Mazatlan - 3 weeks booked recently, we have to figure out whether to bank 5 more soon (We had 12 weeks internally banked with PM but the new owner decided we must use everything this year. We found out a few weeks ago. I hesitate to 'dump' 8 weeks in II so I might put some in various exchange companies like DAE etc
4) I've debated whether to bank with SFX as we have a membership. But the recent threads on TS4SM regarding SFX scare me. The quoted email from the SFX employee that seemed to indicate that the problem was that the SFX member's week was not good enough (I don't recall the exact words) makes me wonder if I deposit with SFX if they will treat me in a similar fashion. (We have plenty of great inventory we could deposit.)
I called SFX and asked to speak to Mark and was told "Mark will not accept telephone calls" - not sure if that is true or I the SFX employee was too new.
5) Probably bank our 2009 Pono Kai and use our 2010 Pono Kai back to back.
My husband purchased from Glen Ivy about 1988 or so. It is now managed by Bluegreen.
I wasn't too impressed with Pono Kai and would exchange those weeks if we can be in better resorts.
6) http://RCI.com - we might have 200 to 400 RCI points to use up. Also several RCI weeks but not sure what they'll exchange for except for LM.