Best exchange company for Europe?

[winnipiseogee Junior Member Find all posts View Profile Close winnipiseogee]

Hello all -

My wife and I just bought our first timeshare after about 6months of research. Although we bought this one primarily for kiddie vacations we are looking at the possibility of using it in Europe. What are people's feeling on the best exchange companies for europe? RCI, II, other? Any opinions would be greatly appreciated!!

Thanks

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

I think it depends on where you want to go.

Many TS's in Europe aren't exactly in places that Americans necessarily want to visit. It's more tailored to Europeans who want to holiday in the mountains or the seaside. There are city timeshares but they are more difficult to exchange into.

Where do you want to go? Maybe we can guide you better with that knowledge. Europe is a big place.

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

I would say go with a mix. RCI or II (or both if your resort is dual affiliated) plus free memberships at SFX and DAE. You might also consider HTSE, due to their trading partner relationship with UKRE.

If your resort happens to be with DRI, then leverage their connection to Hapimag. They cannot get all of the Hapimag resorts in Europe but can get some good ones like Prague. DRI's own European Collection has some great resorts, and you are more likely to trade into them through II than RCI among the affiliation-based exchange companies.

After a few more posts, you should take a look at the Exchange Opportunities board to get an idea of what pops up at the various exchange companies for Europe.

I have been very happy with DAE which has gotten me a summer UK canalboat, summer French Riviera, summer Croatia coast, summer Polish coast, Stout's Hill in the England in late spring, Knocktopher Abbey in Ireland in late Spring, among others.

[winnipiseogee Junior Member Find all posts View Profile Close winnipiseogee]

thanks for the great (and quick) replies! Although I joined up with a couple of timeshare BBS's I'm really impressed with the quality of the dialogue here.

We are pretty open to anywhere in Europe. We don't mind out of the way locations and in fact a number of our favorite trips have been to places for the local tourists.

My resort is dual affiliated but my unit is RCI points. Will I still be able to use them with SFX and DAE? I'm thinking about buying an additional unit at the same resort but the specific room is II affiliated. I'm figuring between the two it will give me a lot more options.

That said I don't see many II units on ebay and I can't decide if its because people who have II keep it or because II units are worth less than the $1 that so many RCI units are getting.

Thanks in advance for all the help!!!

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

thanks for the great (and quick) replies! Although I joined up with a couple of timeshare BBS's I'm really impressed with the quality of the dialogue here.

We are pretty open to anywhere in Europe. We don't mind out of the way locations and in fact a number of our favorite trips have been to places for the local tourists.

My resort is dual affiliated but my unit is RCI points. Will I still be able to use them with SFX and DAE? I'm thinking about buying an additional unit at the same resort but the specific room is II affiliated. I'm figuring between the two it will give me a lot more options.

That said I don't see many II units on ebay and I can't decide if its because people who have II keep it or because II units are worth less than the $1 that so many RCI units are getting.

Thanks in advance for all the help!!!

You can have a week that is in RCI points "undone" so to speak if you don't want to trade in RCI points anymore but you'll want to know what the underlying TPU's (Trade power units) would be before undoing it.

I do see quite a bit of interesting inventory in RCI points. Are you following the school calendar or can you go in shoulder seasons? There are a few summer weeks but there are more shoulder seasons and pretty reasonable amount of RCI points too. How many RCI points do you currently get?

Here are a few that I see off hand for July, there are 155 resorts available in all of Europe in RCI points for July alone:

Akeld Manor and Country Club (#3816) 1 check-in day available
Northumberland, NE71 6TA
England
2 Bedroom
Check-In Date
07-Jul-2012
Points Value (7 Nts)
81000

Golf Apartments Richmond Park (#4817) 4 check-in nights available
Norfolk, ENGLAND IP25 6EA
England
1 Bedroom
2 Bedroom
Check-In Date Range
21-Jul-2012 -
23-Jul-2012
Points Range (7 Nts)
68500 - 80000

Scandinavian Village (#0701) 1 check-in day available
Inverness-Shire, PH22 1PF
Scotland
2 Bedroom
Check-In Date
14-Jul-2012
Points Value (7 Nts)
74500

The Dyserth Falls Resort (#2255) 15 check-in nights available
Clywd, LL18 6DX
Wales
Studio
2 Bedroom
Check-In Date Range
01-Jul-2012 -
28-Jul-2012
Points Range (7 Nts)
52000 - 74500

Porto Azzurro Resort Club (#4409) 6 check-in nights available
Xemxija, SPB 15
Malta
Studio
1 Bedroom
2 Bedroom
Check-In Date Range
07-Jul-2012 -
28-Jul-2012
Points Range (7 Nts)
49000 - 71500

Clube Forum (#1447) 1 check-in day available
Vilamoura, .
Portugal
1 Bedroom
Check-In Date
22-Jul-2012
Points Value (7 Nts)
34500

Royal Alpage Club (#4886) 2 check-in nights available
Val d'Illiez, SWITZERLAND CH-1873
Switzerland
1 Bedroom
Check-In Date Range
07-Jul-2012 -
28-Jul-2012
Points Range (7 Nts)
52500 - 57500

Club le Bristol (#2528) 2 check-in nights available
Isola, 06420
France
Studio
1 Bedroom
Check-In Date
07-Jul-2012
Points Range (7 Nts)
47000 - 55500

Ischia Uno Residence (#2256) 1 check-in day available
Forio d'Ischia, (NA) 80075
Italy
1 Bedroom
Check-In Date
18-Jul-2012
Points Value (7 Nts)
38000

Sun Beach Holiday Club (#2527) 2 check-in nights available
Rhodes, GREECE 85100
Greece
1 Bedroom
Check-In Date Range
11-Jul-2012 -
29-Jul-2012
Points Range (7 Nts)
57000 - 59500

Paradise Kings Club Paphos (#6234) 2 check-in nights available
Paphos, 8132
Cyprus
2 Bedroom
Check-In Date Range
08-Jul-2012 -
15-Jul-2012
Points Value (7 Nts)
80500

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

The II week will trade with the independent exchange companies. With RCI Points, you could either take it completely out of Points OR for a given year, you could tell RCI you want to use your home week and then deposit that one year with an independent. DAE will take most deposits. SFX is highly selective as to both resort and season they will accept.

Of the resorts listed by Christine, I have traded into Akeld Manor thorugh DAE and Sun Beach through RCI and both are nice resorts.

As far as trading into various countries-

Spain - This is one of the easiest European trades with most exchange companies, particularly the Canary Islands and the Costa del Sol, but they are both nice areas, just overbuilt with timeshare. Because of the glut of inventory, it is wise to consider renting rather than trading. With DAE, members get a chance to rent last minute inventory at very favorable prices in the last 8 weeks before the use date. RCI makes member and non-member rentals availible earlier. Take a look at what is for rent and compare it with your opportunity cost in exchanging.

Portugal - Also a good amount of inventory in the Algarve in southern Portugal, but not quite as overbuilt as Spain. Compare rental opportunities here as well.

Hungary - A very interesting country to visit and lots of timeshare inventory, especially in RCI, but increasingly with DAE as well.

Malta - A very interesting island to visit and it has lots of timeshare resorts, so good availibility at both DAE and RCI.

Finland - Overbuilt and an easy trade in RCI, but most resorts are not convenient for sightseeing.

Greece - An interesting place to go and rather easy to trade into, either with RCI or DAE.

Italy - The easiest part of Italy to trade into is South Tirol in the mountainous north, German-speaking and historically a part of Austria, a very scenic area but not what many think of as Italy. Very tough to trade into are Venice and Tuscany, but it can be done. Beach resort areas are not as easy as South Tirol but can have decent availibility.

Croatia - An extrremely interesting and scenic country to trade into, one recent advertising slogan used being ''The Mediterranian as It Used to Be''. Spotty availibility at RCI and DAE. DAE's resorts are much better located for sightseeing.

Germany - Decent availibility at RCI and less so at DAE. Most resorts are in the south.

Austria - a very scenic country to visit; decent availibility at RCI and DAE

UK - Scotland is the easiest part of the UK to trade into, followed by Wales and then England. London is one of the toughest trades in all of timesharing, but your best odds of getting in there are with SFX. Southern England in warm season is tough, but the region with the best availibility in the south is Cornwall. DAE gets some interesting vacation cottages in addition to timeshares. SFX also gets UK inventory, and HTSE has a relationship with the United Kingdom Resort Exchange through which they can access UK inventory.

France - The Riviera in summer can be a very tough trade, as is Paris, but Paris is an easier trade than London. The French Alps are the easiest area to trade into. DAE gets deposits of vacation cottages, often in areas where there is little or no timeshare.

Bulgaria - Often overlooked, but interesting areas both on the Black Sea coast and the Rila Mountains. DAE has the edge on availibility here.

Ireland - has often been a tough trade, but seems a bit more availible lately. DAE has interesting vacation cottage deposits in addition to timeshare resorts that you can trade into.

[winnipiseogee Junior Member Find all posts View Profile Close winnipiseogee]

Thank-you!!! That is great info. Part of the problem with having bought our week on ebay is that the property manager tells us it takes 4 to 6 months for all the paperwork to be done and us to have a functioning RCI points logon. Of course for $4000 they will "upgrade" our account and finish the paperwork in two weeks... Pretty much the behavior I expected from a TS developer but still. I want to use the points I bought and its annoying waiting!

We don't have to follow school vacation weeks - not big enough for that yet!!

Croatia is VERY high on our to visit list. We've liked our visits to northern italy more than we enjoyed Tuscany and Venice (just too crazy busy) so that is fine by use. Germany and Austria are also high on our lists so that sounds great.

I kept hearing second hand horror stories about not being able to actually use RCI points so this makes me really excited. Can't wait to get my account activated! Of course now I'm thinking I need another 100k points...

Thanks again!!

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

One European experience I really enjoyed was the UK canalboats, which are availible at RCI or DAE. We have done them at three different marinas and will be going back again next summer. They teach you how to operate the boats, give you a map and send you off on the canals.

[winnipiseogee Junior Member Find all posts View Profile Close winnipiseogee]

That's awesome! My wife had just read an article about that and it seemed like a great trip. Although we have a one year old it would seem that as long as we aren't allowing her to wander on the decks it would be safe enough!

[cbhattarai Junior Member Find all posts View Profile Close cbhattarai]

It is really a great work that you have done.

Budgeting Tips | Financial Tips

[Ellen Member Find all posts View Profile Close Ellen]

SFX London

My first attempt to trade into Europe I put a request into SFX......we will be staying at the Sloane Gardens Club in London in August (after the Olympics)!!!

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

I kept hearing second hand horror stories about not being able to actually use RCI points so this makes me really excited. Can't wait to get my account activated! Of course now I'm thinking I need another 100k points...

Thanks again!!

Don't believe everything you hear.