Tading Power

Hi Everyone, first post so go easy on me!

I'm looking to purchase a timeshare that gives me a good exchange value with II. I have two children of school age and need to be able to exchange this TS for other resorts during school holidays. I live on England which is why I'm not worried about going to my home resort, but need that exchange power.

Any suggestions of resorts or how II works out exchange power would be great...thx

ian174 wrote:

Hi Everyone, first post so go easy on me!

I'm looking to purchase a timeshare that gives me a good exchange value with II. I have two children of school age and need to be able to exchange this TS for other resorts during school holidays. I live on England which is why I'm not worried about going to my home resort, but need that exchange power.

Any suggestions of resorts or how II works out exchange power would be great...thx

Ian: Greetings from "across the pond". While your inquiry may have actually elicited more views and more replies in the "Timeshare Exchanges" forum, there is certainly no harm in discussing it here.

As you may already know, II (unlike RCI) allows for "search first" before depositing a week for exchange. That's the good news. The RedWeek exchange program also provides a "search first" option, regardless of a resorts' affiliated exchange company, with a clear (but inconsistent) valuation of a deposit BEFORE that week is deposited. RedWeek also provides a clear identification of the "points" required to obtain an available week in their (somewhat limited) exchange inventory. The transparency of the RedWeek valuation process is certainly a very nice feature, but the valuations are, in my opinion, quite inconsistent.

Regarding II, which you specifically asked about, the "not so good" news is that II actually has considerably fewer (only about 1/3 the number, actually) of the number of affiliated resorts when compared to RCI. Moreover, II focuses upon allowing only "like for like" exchanges. In short, this means that "gold bars" are not offered in exchange for a deposit of "clay bricks". Please don't interpret this particular observation as my endorsing RCI over II. On the contrary, I actually have no use for RCI whatsoever.

In my personal opinion, buying a timeshare week SOLELY to exchange it is simply not a very good idea. Remember, in order to become offered for exchange in the first place, a particular week must first be "deposited" into the exchange company "inventory" by its owner. There are ABSOLUTELY NO guarantees that you (or anyone else) will be able to find an exchange week available where or when you might want or need one. The fact that you have school age children further defines (and limits) your own dates of availability for exchanges.

My personal opinion is that one should buy (...only in the resale market) ONLY a week that you are able and willing and satisfied to actually use if you are unable to rent it out. If you are considering buying ONLY to exchange, I respectfully submit that you might be much better off just renting a week somewhere each year instead --- where and when you can and want to actually go there. Consider for a moment that you will always have annual maintenance fee obligations with any timeshare ownership, even for a week which you cannot (or do not want to) actually use. That annual "out of pocket" cost could be applied each year toward a rental instead --- without having to worry about not being able to get an acceptable "exchange", or continually escalating maintenance fees, or unexpected special assessments or, last but certainly not least, a potential inability in the future to successfully re-sell an owned week of limited demand or value.

Just my own subjective viewpoint and opinion --- since you asked....

ECHO of Ken's message... Worth Repetition... every month

Trade power is specifically related to supply and demand of a given resort and time period owned there, however, as Ken stated, I would never buy a week solely to trade. Changes happen daily in the world of timeshare and what may be a good trader today may be a bummer trader tomorrow, especially in this bad economy when fewer people vacation ..... I would rent instead.

Also, after the initial purchase, you have to consider rising yearly maintenance fees (some of which have become exhorbitant according to what I've been reading on Tug) and possible special assessments.

Thanks everyone for the advice. I think your write, renting would be a better option for me at the mo. The number of available TS's in England is limited compared to US and traveling to Europe during school holidays is outrageous.

I'm guessing at the mo, if people can't sell there TS but have a financial commitment in terms of maintenance thay might be happier to get some rent money rather than none. I know it's harsh to push back the rent price, but these are the times we live in.

Thanks again all those that took the time to respond.