REDWEEKS NEW TIMESHARE EXHANGE PROGRAM

"But, alas, there was not 1 review posted by anyone about this place! So you either roll the dice and trust that the resort is actually there and operating and of the quality that you want or you pass". ------------------------------------------------------------------ Actually there is an excellent way to find out detailed information about over 4,000 timeshare resorts world-wide--become a member of the Timeshare Users Group www.tug2.net . There is no charge for reading the info on the bulletin boards/forums. But if you choose to become a member of TUG, at a cost of $15. per year or 3 years for $25.you will then be able to enter the members only "Resort Reviews" section where members post detailed reports of their vacations at each property.

I have been a member of TUG since 1995 and have never accepted a timeshare exchange or rental into any resort without first reading all the reviews of the property on TUG. The reviews also contain information such as how to get to the resort via public transportation (this was especially helpful when we exchanged into London and Paris--cities where we were warned against renting a car), good and not so good restaurants nearby, which building and units to request, tours and activities in the areas, etc...

And as noted elsewhere in this forum, I also read reviews at www.tripadvisor.com

Another place to look is at www.Timeshareforums.com

www.tripadvisor.com is a very good source for timeshare, resort and hotel reviews and it's free, unlike Tug where you have to pay to look at the reviews.

jayjay wrote:

www.tripadvisor.com is a very good source for timeshare, resort and hotel reviews and it's free, unlike Tug where you have to pay to look at the reviews.

Yes, but the reviews at TUG are so much more detailed and more tailored to the needs and interests of timeshare owners. Plus I trust the information provided by TUG members more than what is posted on TripAdvisor. Since TripAdvsor allows anyone to post without knowing who they are, and without charging any fee, there have been reports of people posting glowing reviews of poor properties in which they have a vested interest. The TUG members tend to get to know each other and can better judge the accuracy of what is being posted and will challenge anyone whose information doesn't seem "honest" (although IMHO this rarely occurs).

P.S. The $15. per year TUG membership fee also allows one to use the "search" feature that will let you find many prior disussions on the bbs/forums by topic e.g. "best time to go to Hawaii" or RCI Points pros and cons, etc... And the paid membership fee entitles one to place a free classified ad.

I tend to look at it differently. TripAdvisor reviews are non biased reviews from millions of people that don't own timeshares but may have stayed at a timeshare resort (or other resort or hotel), therefore they have no vested interest in their posted reviews.

It seems many reviews on Tug are from people posting glowing reviews of their own resort and not pointing out the pitfalls. Also, a lot of the reviews are very old/outdated on Tug. I wouldn't pay $15 to look at old reviews when I could get better info on TripAdvisor from a wider source of people, not just timeshare owners.

In my opinion, I believe TripAdvisor reviews are much more realistic as they are constantly being added to with new data from posters. JMHO

jennie wrote:

Yes, but the reviews at TUG are so much more detailed and more tailored to the needs and interests of timeshare owners. Plus I trust the information provided by TUG members more than what is posted on TripAdvisor. Since TripAdvsor allows anyone to post without knowing who they are, and without charging any fee, there have been reports of people posting glowing reviews of poor properties in which they have a vested interest. The TUG members tend to get to know each other and can better judge the accuracy of what is being posted and will challenge anyone whose information doesn't seem "honest" (although IMHO this rarely occurs).

P.S. The $15. per year TUG membership fee also allows one to use the "search" feature that will let you find many prior disussions on the bbs/forums by topic e.g. "best time to go to Hawaii" or RCI Points pros and cons, etc... And the paid membership fee entitles one to place a free classified ad.

jayjay wrote:

Also, there have been many complaints by Tug members that their reviews had never been posted.

Tug is severely antiquated as they are still using nonpaid volunteers to post member reviews and ads by email instead of implementing an automated system that doesn't require a volunteer to post reviews or ads that may have been lost in emails or perhaps erroneously deleted by the volunteer.

I, for one, can't understand why Tug has not brought that site up to date with a fully automated format with all the money they take in. Member dues/fees payments are definitely automated, but nothing else.

I fully agree with you that much could be done to improve the TUG web site. Recently they began offering a free lifetime membership for people who post current reviews of specific resorts that are lacking recent reviews. This is a step in the right direction.

One problem I encounter when reading the TripAdvisor reviews is that many of the people who post glowing reviews of a very mediocre timeshare property are not timeshare owners. This may be the first time they have vacationed in a timeshare vs. a hotel room. (Most of us were very impressed when we first experienced the difference, hence we purchased timeshares). Many first-timers who post on TripAdvisor do not have enough experience to post a meaningful review. What they think is wonderful, we might consider to be old, out-dated, too small, and lacking many of the amenities we are accustomed to e.g. beautiful pools, spectacular grounds, on-site restaurants, large modern kitchens, etc...

I remember reading a few negative reviews on TripAdvisor of a spectacular timeshare in Key West. Well, the person who posted had apparently rented through an aggregator such as Expedia or Hotels.com and had been placed in one of the few tiny studios that the developer owns and uses as part of the "free 2 night package" offered to lure prospective buyers. Their experience, which they went on and on complaining about, was so totally different from the experience my husband and I had when we exchanged into a penthouse unit at the same resort. We also went at the best time of the year (February) while the TripAdvisor reviewer had gone in the summer and complained about the terrible heat and humidity. TUG members generally comment in their reviews about the best and worst times to go to a location, noting the rainy season, hurricane threat months (if any), etc...

The timeshare owners who post reviews on TUG are more knowledgeable about the differences at resorts. Some resorts have several buildings, some of which are much more desirable than others. When hubby and I exchanged into Hawaii, we knew from info in TUG reviews that the resort where we would be staying does the unit assignments two weeks before the check-in date. We also learned that Building X was the newest and "best." And that Building Z was the oldest and least desirable, being the only building not facing the ocean, and the only building where the units had no air conditioning. This is the building where most exchange guests and renters are placed. So two weeks before our arrival date, I called the resort and learned that we had been assigned to a unit in Building Z. I politely requested that we be placed in Building X and it was cheerfully done. I didn't even have to give a reason for the request. This type of invaluable information is not likely to appear in the TripAdvisor reviews.

It is possible that a TUG member might try to post a glowing review of a mediocre (or worse) resort that he owns. But the poster is required to state whether or not he is an owner at the resort. If a poster tries to falsely claim that he/she is not an owner, the very experienced and astute Moderators will generally catch it and challenge the reviewer. And if a non-credible review slips in, other TUG members will undoubtedly refute it. I have rarely seen reviews on TUG that contain widely diverse opinions of a resort. The great resorts have numerous favorable reviews; the awful ones have very negative reviews.

I check TUG first, Redweek second, and TripAdvisor third. I own 15 timeshares and have completed over 60 exchanges. Having used TUG long before Redweek or Tripadvisor were "born," and all three since, I must say that there have been no unpleasant surprises at any of the resorts we stayed at. The Internet is such a great resource when planning vacations, especially when people take time to post reviews to help others.

orvillef2 wrote:

Has anyone used this exchange yet? I'd like to know what some sample points values are. Also, how much extra could a person have to pay anyway?

I really like the idea of this new program, as I don't really like RCI or II, however they have lots to offer in their inventory and they also have special deals directly with the resorts.

I wouldn't mind losing one of my weeks for something less than ideal, just to be a pioneer and help this site get off the ground, but if you ask me, I think $125 plus whatever value is over for your exchange is a bit much to ask at first. $50 straight across would be good for starting up.

Also does anyone now how many Redweek subscribers there are and can/will Redweek email them to solicit their trading as well?

bunnye wrote:

orvillef2 wrote:

Has anyone used this exchange yet? I'd like to know what some sample points values are. Also, how much extra could a person have to pay anyway?

I really like the idea of this new program, as I don't really like RCI or II, however they have lots to offer in their inventory and they also have special deals directly with the resorts.

I wouldn't mind losing one of my weeks for something less than ideal, just to be a pioneer and help this site get off the ground, but if you ask me, I think $125 plus whatever value is over for your exchange is a bit much to ask at first. $50 straight across would be good for starting up.

Also does anyone now how many Redweek subscribers there are and can/will Redweek email them to solicit their trading as well?

Hello I'm with you--I'm interested in a timeshare exchange but it's not clear from this site just what to do. It is clear howeVer that they don't want anyone to contact them. I can't find a phone number anywhere which makes me suspicious that they would also be unavailable when there is a problem. I'd like to ask someone a few questions before I commit to this. How about the ones who have already posted? Is there a way to talk to a person?

Contact Kylie supoort@redweek.com

She answered all my questions in a timely manner. I deposited my ski week in CO 30 days ago during the "soft" opening. They offered and I accepted 1800 (CORRECTION 1800 NOT 800) Redweek points.

Submit your unit for an offer. Once you receive an offer, there will be a link on the page to make the deposit. Follow the steps if you want to deposit.

After your resort confirms the deposit, the week will be posted on Redweek's site as available for the same amount of points that they gave you.

Good Luck & give it a try.

FYI - A mss emaili went out this week to all Redweek subscribers. I do not know haow many. Go to the tub forums. there is a lot of discussion there.

terry314 wrote:

bunnye wrote:

orvillef2 wrote:

Has anyone used this exchange yet? I'd like to know what some sample points values are. Also, how much extra could a person have to pay anyway?

I really like the idea of this new program, as I don't really like RCI or II, however they have lots to offer in their inventory and they also have special deals directly with the resorts.

I wouldn't mind losing one of my weeks for something less than ideal, just to be a pioneer and help this site get off the ground, but if you ask me, I think $125 plus whatever value is over for your exchange is a bit much to ask at first. $50 straight across would be good for starting up.

Also does anyone now how many Redweek subscribers there are and can/will Redweek email them to solicit their trading as well?

Hello I'm with you--I'm interested in a timeshare exchange but it's not clear from this site just what to do. It is clear howeVer that they don't want anyone to contact them. I can't find a phone number anywhere which makes me suspicious that they would also be unavailable when there is a problem. I'd like to ask someone a few questions before I commit to this. How about the ones who have already posted? Is there a way to talk to a person?

Contact Kylie supoort@redweek.com

She answered all my questions in a timely manner. I deposited my ski week in CO 30 days ago during the "soft" opening. They offered and I accepted 800 Redweek points.

Submit your unit for an offer. Once you receive an offer, there will be a link on the page to make the deposit. Follow the steps if you want to deposit.

After your resort confirms the deposit, the week will be posted on Redweek's site as available for the same amount of points that they gave you.

Good Luck & give it a try.

FYI - A mss emaili went out this week to all Redweek subscribers. I do not know haow many. Go to the tub forums. there is a lot of discussion there.

===== Did you have any problem getting your resort to make the deposit with RedWeek? I'm told that Fairfield/Wyndham will only use RCI or II as exchange companies. They will make a deposit for exchange to whichever company was affiliated with your first FF/W purchase.

Is your resort part of a group or an independent? Fixed, floating or point based?

MD

adahiscout wrote:

Did you have any problem getting your resort to make the deposit with RedWeek? I'm told that Fairfield/Wyndham will only use RCI or II as exchange companies. They will make a deposit for exchange to whichever company was affiliated with your first FF/W purchase.

Again, this is ludicrous. If you own a fixed week you can deposit it with Redweek or any of the independent exchange companies that you choose to. If, however, you own Fairfield/Wyndham points then that may be a whole different ballgame. Redweek takes only fixed weeks for deposit, not points.

adahiscout wrote:

===== Did you have any problem getting your resort to make the deposit with RedWeek? I'm told that Fairfield/Wyndham will only use RCI or II as exchange companies. They will make a deposit for exchange to whichever company was affiliated with your first FF/W purchase.

Is your resort part of a group or an independent? Fixed, floating or point based?

MD

If you use your points to get a week from Wyndham and turn it in to Redweek, they will handle the rest.

My resort hehawed around a bit, but finally made the week available to Redweek after they realized they didn'y have a choice.

Give it a try!

terry314 wrote:

adahiscout wrote:

===== Did you have any problem getting your resort to make the deposit with RedWeek? I'm told that Fairfield/Wyndham will only use RCI or II as exchange companies. They will make a deposit for exchange to whichever company was affiliated with your first FF/W purchase.

Is your resort part of a group or an independent? Fixed, floating or point based?

MD

If you use your points to get a week from Wyndham and turn it in to Redweek, they will handle the rest.

My resort hehawed around a bit, but finally made the week available to Redweek after they realized they didn'y have a choice.

Give it a try!

Hi. Thanks for the info. Stan.

jayjay wrote:

adahiscout wrote:

Did you have any problem getting your resort to make the deposit with RedWeek? I'm told that Fairfield/Wyndham will only use RCI or II as exchange companies. They will make a deposit for exchange to whichever company was affiliated with your first FF/W purchase.

Again, this is ludicrous. If you own a fixed week you can deposit it with Redweek or any of the independent exchange companies that you choose to. If, however, you own Fairfield/Wyndham points then that may be a whole different ballgame. Redweek takes only fixed weeks for deposit, not points.

=== The term "fixed weeks" in "timeshare-speak" is understood to mean one owns the same week at the same resort every year, probably in the same unit. I don't think RedWeek is requiring this. It is my understanding that we just have to reserve a specific week at a specific place for a specific size unit to deposit with RedWeek, exactly as we do when going ourselves. Am I wrong?

However, I am thinking that fixed week owners at independent resorts may find it easier to secure a deposit for RedWeek than those who own with groups having a very active relationship with specific exchange companies. (Or not)

I'd like to hear more specifics from folks who have successfully made a deposit with RedWeek for exchange. Have some now completed actual exchanges, not just deposits? This would seem to be the Topic under which to get this information. MD

adahiscout wrote:

The term "fixed weeks" in "timeshare-speak" is understood to mean one owns the same week at the same resort every year, probably in the same unit. I don't think RedWeek is requiring this. It is my understanding that we just have to reserve a specific week at a specific place for a specific size unit to deposit with RedWeek, exactly as we do when going ourselves. Am I wrong?

However, I am thinking that fixed week owners at independent resorts may find it easier to secure a deposit for RedWeek than those who own with groups having a very active relationship with specific exchange companies. (Or not)

I'd like to hear more specifics from folks who have successfully made a deposit with RedWeek for exchange. Have some now completed actual exchanges, not just deposits? This would seem to be the Topic under which to get this information. MD

I have made a succesful deposit with Redweek.

I own a 3BR floating winter season week at Christie Lodge. I try to book a Spring Break week each year for use, rent or trade with RCI.

This year I booked March 15-22, 2008. Last month I deposited my week with Redweek in exchange for 1800 points. I received my 1800 points within a couple of days. My room showed up as available about 10 days later on Redweeks exchange website.

I will probably book the same week again next year and turn it in to Redweek as well. If all goes well, I will have a minimum of 3600 points. Hopefully they will have plenty of inventory for me to choose from by then.

Good Luck

Terry314 Your plan seems like great idea if this program works! It is still to early to tell and what happens to your points if it doesn't! What happens if your choices are low end resorts only or this falls flat and you have no choices a year from now! I can see people with more than one unit trying this but many of us will wait and see!

People depositing very good resorts will want fair exchange and if they see this won't happen they will not deposit their unit here.

Owners with low end resorts hope to add some money and move up to top resort. This is something they couldn't do with their own trading company!

I still do not see top resorts listed as of yet. Couple good resorts that did show have been removed so I would think someone grabbed them!

Lets face it, they have a few in Colorado summer months and your's for ski season which I see and it won't last long if its one of the better resorts. The ski season units are the type deposits that will help RW work.

It seems that more than 75% of the resorts are out of the country that are now listed which tells you all these owners jumped on here to get points for their resorts. There are 79 resorts in the United States listed and 270 resorts outside of the country listed right now!

The DAE portion I do not understand.

Being one of the "originals" in this program, I have been in semi-constant communication with folks over at Redweek.

I recieved an email from one of them on Saturday evening. I was told that they (Redweek) are monitoring the TUG bulletin boards and hearing what the people are saying. Of course they are monitoring this one as well. Now, that doesn't mean that they will, or even can, make changes to suit all, but they ARE listening.

I was also told by Redweek, "We have received a great response to exchange following our recent e-mail announcement. Good weeks are coming..."

I know that every accepted points-for-deposit takes time for that week to show up (up to two weeks). I beilieve that we will soon start to see those weeks show up in the data base.

The problem with the new system is that there is no way for an individual who is looking for a specific week in a specific area to notify owners of units in designated week/area that someone is interested in their resort. For example, I put my two bedroom unit into the new system and got a fair amount of points but am having trouble in locating a resort for the week/area where I want to go. THE SOLUTION WOULD BE TO HAVE A POSTING BOARD (FREE) SO THAT PEOPLE CAN BE NOTIFIED WHEN A RESORT'S TIME/LOCATION IS NEEDED. My weeks are on a floating time and if I knew someone needed a specific week that is the week I would reserve and put into the new point system. As it is now, I just picked a week at random.

phill12 wrote:

It is still to early to tell and what happens to your points if it doesn't! What happens if your choices are low end resorts only or this falls flat and you have no choices a year from now!

It seems Redweek could become top heavy very quickly because most people want top resorts not the low end resorts!

People depositing very good resorts will want fair exchange and if they see this won't happen they will not deposit their unit here.

Owners with low end resorts hope to add some money and move up to top resort. This is something they couldn't do with their own trading company!

I still do not see top resorts listed as of yet. Couple very good units that did show were taken right away.

I don't necessarily agree with the statement above. High end/low end timeshare resorts are in the eye of the beholder. We have stayed at many resorts that weren't rated gold crown, but those resorts were very nice.

There are some Tug members that expect to get everything they want in an exchange to the highest rated resorts, but most people aren't like that. They want clean accomodations in a well maintained resort.

Also, there are many people that prefer to travel off-season (we did when there were less crowds and less heat - we never cared to travel in the heat of summer or during holidays).

To show you what some Tug members are like, there's one individual that bought a week 52 pre-construction at Planet Hollywood in Vegas for $100,000 +- and bragged about what a great negotiator he was in getting this great deal (yeah right ... anybody that knows anything about timesharing knows that deleloper salespeople will keep dropping the price until they make a sale, DUH!).

Anyone who pays 100K for one week of timeshare needs to have their head examined bigtime, but these are the kind of people that some Tug members are. They come across as intelligent because they can type well, but in reality they don't know diddly about timesharing. I certainly hope that newbies didn't take his advice and follow suit.

Again, what is considered a nice timeshare and season is in the eye of the beholder. Not everyone expects high end timeshares in hot red season.

There are some Tug members that have already started bashing Redweek's exchange system even though it's barely off the ground and still in it's infancy. It takes time for any new venture to get started. It was just recently that Redweek sent out an email to all it's members about the new exchange system and it takes time to get the message out to ALL timeshare owners.

I was impressed to see all the deposits that have already been made into the Redweek exchange system with it being so new. The best is yet to come and I give Redweek super kudos in starting this new revolutionary exchange venture.

nancyj9 wrote:

The problem with the new system is that there is no way for an individual who is looking for a specific week in a specific area to notify owners of units in designated week/area that someone is interested in their resort. For example, I put my two bedroom unit into the new system and got a fair amount of points but am having trouble in locating a resort for the week/area where I want to go. THE SOLUTION WOULD BE TO HAVE A POSTING BOARD (FREE) SO THAT PEOPLE CAN BE NOTIFIED WHEN A RESORT'S TIME/LOCATION IS NEEDED. My weeks are on a floating time and if I knew someone needed a specific week that is the week I would reserve and put into the new point system. As it is now, I just picked a week at random.

Hi Nancy,

We would recommend calling your resort to find out which of the best weeks are available to you, then submitting free valuation requests to see which week would receive the highest RedWeek Exchange Points value. You will have our offers within 24 hours, and can then choose which week to reserve with your resort.

You can also chose to be notified when an exchange is posted for any particular timeshare. Go to any timeshare you are interested in and click on the "Be notified of new postings » " in the upper right corner of the page. You can then chose "exchange".

Thanks, Marty

======== One assumes that the working relationship between RedWeek and DAE is intended to be mutually beneficial to them and to their members.

Since WE are their members, it is not unnatural to be interested in how this interaction functions. ( Heaven knows we spend enough time trying to figure out how RCI and II work!) On this site, there is hope of actually getting RW's answers instead of wallowing in paranoia. (sp?) Ignorance is clearly not bliss.--adahiscout