WARNING - RE TIMESHARE EXCHANGES

Buy your timeshare in a resort because you like to go there. Don't buy for the sole purpose of exchanging it for something else. I have never been able to exchange my timeshares for something of equal value at the places I wanted to go. Fortunately, I like the resort where I bought and go there for the same times every year.

Very good advice. I would never buy a timeshare solely to exchange. All our timeshares were bought in places we liked to go. Exchanging is merely icing on the cake IF you decide NOT to use your owned timeshare(s) some years. Even then you have to be realistic as to what your trading power is for exchanges. You should have several locations and resorts in mind when searching, not just one particular location and resort.

I bought low and exchanged into post season ones that were above my exchange and have been having a wonderful time with exchanges. I go on the off season to resorts I want to explore, and every time I sit down with a timeshare salesperson they can't beat my deal and give up. Even with paying an exchange fee its cheaper than their asking maintainance fee.

evaover wrote:

I bought low and exchanged into post season ones that were above my exchange and have been having a wonderful time with exchanges. I go on the off season to resorts I want to explore, and every time I sit down with a timeshare salesperson they can't beat my deal and give up. Even with paying an exchange fee its cheaper than their asking maintainance fee.

Even if you bought low I would have thought you'd still have to pay a maintenance fee.

evaover wrote:

I bought low and exchanged into post season ones that were above my exchange and have been having a wonderful time with exchanges. I go on the off season to resorts I want to explore, and every time I sit down with a timeshare salesperson they can't beat my deal and give up. Even with paying an exchange fee its cheaper than their asking maintainance fee.

I also bought low (mid-February, which was the cheapest week), but in a resort I really like, and go back to often. If I want a different date, I can exchange within the resort, or exchange to other resorts via timeshare exchange. I worked out that even if I exchanged my week every year for 30 years, it would still be cheaper that paying for high season. It is true that I pay maintenance, but luckily my resort maintenance is relatively reasonable.

Yes, you always have to pay a maintenance fee whether you bought developer or resale. That's one of the necessary evils of timeshare ownership.

ednab2 wrote:

Even if you bought low I would have thought you'd still have to pay a maintenance fee.

I'm new to this so please bear with me. If you have more than one week (same or different resorts) can you combine them and get more exchange power? Thanks.

tesora wrote:

I'm new to this so please bear with me. If you have more than one week (same or different resorts) can you combine them and get more exchange power? Thanks.

Yes, that's correct. You are assigned a point value for each week that's deposited. The total number of points you accumulate can be used to exchange for a higher valued week.

If you have at least 50% of the points required, you can simply pay the difference - currently just $1 per point. All options available to you will be shown on the exchange week page.

On the other hand, if you have more points than you need, just keep those to use toward a later exchange within the three year timeframe. This unique feature means you will always get a fair trade.

Thanks, Marty

Marty is speaking for Redweek exchanges only. This is not the case with RCI or II. Your ownership of multiple timeshares is separate when evaluating trade power.

One of the MAJOR positives at Redweek is that you CAN accumulate points when multiple timeshares are deposited giving you much higher trade power.

jayjay wrote:

Marty is speaking for Redweek exchanges only. This is not the case with RCI or II. Your ownership of multiple timeshares is separate when evaluating trade power.

One of the MAJOR positives at Redweek is that you CAN accumulate points when multiple timeshares are deposited giving you much higher trade power.

Thank you, JayJay. I should have been clearer with my answer.

Marty

jayjay wrote:

Yes, you always have to pay a maintenance fee whether you bought developer or resale. That's one of the necessary evils of timeshare ownership.

ednab2 wrote:

Even if you bought low I would have thought you'd still have to pay a maintenance fee.

I've heard of this. Some kind of "We don't have to guarantee you a week you'll want, but if you'll take what we have available you can use it for free" deal.

Just remember you paid all your maintenance fees upfront. $10,000 only lasts 20 weeks if you pay $500 each week. If you have 52 total weeks you got a steal depending on what you paid for them and if they end up having any acceptable weeks for you to use.

Oh, and if they charge an all-inclusive fee you really got nothing as we can all go to an all-inclusive place for about $49 plus the fee just about anytime. Even my vacation home totally paid for, costs money to sit empty.

PS. He is correct in Timeshare OWNERSHIP. Perhaps you are thinking of prepaid vacations?

geraldinem27 wrote:

No I own a time share, 52 weeks and there is no maintenance fees.

This doesn't sound like traditional timeshare ownership. I would be curious to know exactly what you do own? As Orville mentioned above, this sounds like some kind of travel club, not timeshare ownership. With timeshares one owns a deed.

marty8084 wrote:

tesora wrote:

I'm new to this so please bear with me. If you have more than one week (same or different resorts) can you combine them and get more exchange power? Thanks.

Yes, that's correct. You are assigned a point value for each week that's deposited. The total number of points you accumulate can be used to exchange for a higher valued week.

If you have at least 50% of the points required, you can simply pay the difference - currently just $1 per point. All options available to you will be shown on the exchange week page.

On the other hand, if you have more points than you need, just keep those to use toward a later exchange within the three year timeframe. This unique feature means you will always get a fair trade.

Thanks, Marty

margaret915 wrote:

marty8084 wrote:

tesora wrote:

I'm new to this so please bear with me. If you have more than one week (same or different resorts) can you combine them and get more exchange power? Thanks.

Yes, that's correct. You are assigned a point value for each week that's deposited. The total number of points you accumulate can be used to exchange for a higher valued week.

If you have at least 50% of the points required, you can simply pay the difference - currently just $1 per point. All options available to you will be shown on the exchange week page.

On the other hand, if you have more points than you need, just keep those to use toward a later exchange within the three year timeframe. This unique feature means you will always get a fair trade.

Thanks, Marty

Do you have to pay a separate Redweek fee for each property that is deposited?

margaret915 wrote:

marty8084 wrote:

tesora wrote:

I'm new to this so please bear with me. If you have more than one week (same or different resorts) can you combine them and get more exchange power? Thanks.

Yes, that's correct. You are assigned a point value for each week that's deposited. The total number of points you accumulate can be used to exchange for a higher valued week.

If you have at least 50% of the points required, you can simply pay the difference - currently just $1 per point. All options available to you will be shown on the exchange week page.

On the other hand, if you have more points than you need, just keep those to use toward a later exchange within the three year timeframe. This unique feature means you will always get a fair trade.

Thanks, Marty

Do you have to pay a separate Redweek fee for each property that is deposited?

There isn't a fee for each deposit but there is a $125 fee for each exchange.

Thanks, Marty

marty8084 wrote:

margaret915 wrote:

marty8084 wrote:

tesora wrote:

I'm new to this so please bear with me. If you have more than one week (same or different resorts) can you combine them and get more exchange power? Thanks.

Yes, that's correct. You are assigned a point value for each week that's deposited. The total number of points you accumulate can be used to exchange for a higher valued week.

If you have at least 50% of the points required, you can simply pay the difference - currently just $1 per point. All options available to you will be shown on the exchange week page.

On the other hand, if you have more points than you need, just keep those to use toward a later exchange within the three year timeframe. This unique feature means you will always get a fair trade.

Thanks, Marty

Do you have to pay a separate Redweek fee for each property that is deposited?

There isn't a fee for each deposit but there is a $125 fee for each exchange.

Thanks, Marty

I am also new to this. What would you say are the advantages to depositing with redweek over other exchange companies (other than RCI and II)?

Is there a deadline to deposit such as 60 days or such before points expire?

Karen

karenp242 wrote:

marty8084 wrote:

margaret915 wrote:

marty8084 wrote:

tesora wrote:

I'm new to this so please bear with me. If you have more than one week (same or different resorts) can you combine them and get more exchange power? Thanks.

Yes, that's correct. You are assigned a point value for each week that's deposited. The total number of points you accumulate can be used to exchange for a higher valued week.

If you have at least 50% of the points required, you can simply pay the difference - currently just $1 per point. All options available to you will be shown on the exchange week page.

On the other hand, if you have more points than you need, just keep those to use toward a later exchange within the three year timeframe. This unique feature means you will always get a fair trade.

Thanks, Marty

Do you have to pay a separate Redweek fee for each property that is deposited?

There isn't a fee for each deposit but there is a $125 fee for each exchange.

Thanks, Marty

I am also new to this. What would you say are the advantages to depositing with redweek over other exchange companies (other than RCI and II)?

Is there a deadline to deposit such as 60 days or such before points expire?

Karen

Keep in mind this is a new program and I think RedWeek has to “get some of the bugs out”. So, let me give you what I see are the benefits of a RedWeek exchange. The exchange fee is a bit cheaper and you have three years in which to use you points. Also, there is no extra fee for a guest certificate and you can rent a RedWeek exchange to a third party.

Now for downside… While the Redweek website touts that it has access to ALL resorts, in fact there are currently just over 400 resorts actually available for exchange at this time (inventory changes daily). Hundreds more are provisional exchanges which will be deposited by owners ONLY if a suitable exchange is found (sort of like Interval International’s request first program). To view the possibilities yourself, go the Timeshare Exchange link; under ‘Find Your Exchange’ select all regions, and click GO. You will see almost 50 pages of Provisional and Exchange weeks. Now select ‘Exchange Weeks Only’ and you will see less than 20 pages of listings. You can deposit your week as a Provisional week and hope to get what you want. Be forewarned, if your request comes through, the initial value of your resort will no longer be applicable AND I can almost guarantee that upon re-valuation, it will be reduced.

The inconsistency in their Timeshare Valuation Process is my biggest issue with the Redweek exchange program and this opinion is based on my own experience. RedWeek gave me a valuation for my Williamsburg timeshare (Fourth of July week) which I thought was somewhat fair (approx 1500 pts), but I felt it was a bit low since it approximated the exchange value for a similar Williamsburg unit during a week in early May. I did not see any exchange possibilities that I liked, so I decided to wait a bit. A few weeks later, I asked for a re-valuation and Redweek reduced the value by OVER 25% to approx 1150pts. As a result, I wouldn’t even have enough points for an exchange into summer week in the same region from which I deposited. Nor would I’ve been able to exchange into an oversaturated Florida (except for maybe a one bedroom in the off-season). I understand that the closer it gets to check-in, fewer points are allotted, however, it was still over 6 months prior to the check-in date and it was only a few weeks between evaluations. This seems to be a double standard by RedWeek. The closer it is to check-in, the fewer points I get for my deposit, BUT, the points required for an exchange never seem to change until just a few weeks before the check-in date. For example, since my initial Valuation, that early May Williamsburg week (previously mentioned) still requires 1500 points for an exchange, but my unit was devalued after just a few weeks.

For the RedWeek program to succeed they need to get more deposits and reduce the provisional exchanges. But in this case, the drastic reduction in point value turned me off. I wasn’t asking to be able to exchange my VA week for a Hawaiian week, but please “give me a fighting chance”.

Has anyone else fallen into this re-valuation "pit". Again I apologize for the length of this post. Mike

I've experienced a similar issue. The unit I requested valuation for is over 12 months out and yet, the points offer was approximately 1500 points. Ironically, the exact same resort is currently listing over 2000 points required to make a reservation. Both weeks are red weeks according to RCI and the resort itself.

Now if RedWeeks cites a change in the model for valuation of an exchange, then I feel that they should then lower the cost to exchange into the same resort.

The points offered for my unit is substantially lower (when looking at what my exchange buys) than what I can get in exchange in RCI points, so for me, RCI is where I'll be exchanging primarily.

I had exactly the same issue, but I asked for a re-evaluation just a few days after the original one, since I had forgotten to accept the original ... The week was over 6 months out, but it went down so much that it wasn't worthwhile for me to exchange into Redweek, which is a shame.