How The Exchanges Work
Two timeshare exchange companies are the
largest and most well known:
1. I.I. Interval International, based in Miami, FL
representing some 2,000 resorts and over 1 million members.
2. RCI (Resort Condominiums International), based in
Indianapolis, IN is the largest, representing some 3600 timeshare
resorts and 2.6 million members.
A frequently asked question about exchanging is:
"Before the exchange company will confirm a requested exchange, does
the exchange company have to first find someone who will take the
week being offered for exchange?"
The answer is NO!!
The exchange company doesn't EVER have to find someone to take the
week that was offered for exchange.
Exchanges are not simple two-way transactions. The weeks in the pool
which are available for exchange, come from weeks deposited by
members worldwide. If the week being requested is in the pool, and
if the week being offered by the potential exchanger has sufficient
trade power (as determined by criteria set by the exchange company),
the exchange will be confirmed.
It is up to the exchange company to find someone who wants the
deposited week, whenever and if ever that may happen.
If the week being requested is not yet in the pool at the initial
time of a request, an ongoing search can be instituted and the
exchange company will notify the person requesting the exchange when
a match becomes available. The owner requesting the exchange can
specify at the time of the initial exchange request, whether a
potential exchange confirmation is desired to be automatic, or
whether to instead reserve the right to approve the week once
he unit details are known.
Since exchanging a timeshare is closely associated with what
"season" is owned, explanation of season follows:
Season
If you are thinking of buying a timeshare, it is very important to
understand the concept of "season" discussed below, and to
understand resort ratings.
Most timeshare resorts have times of the year when the demand is
higher than others. These times of the year are referred to as the
"season", much the same way as hotels rate the times of the year as
being "on season" and "off season", and where rates vary
substantially according to the time of year.
Accordingly, timeshare sales prices and values differ substantially
depending upon what time of year the owner is privileged to use the
timeshare.
For RCI, the seasonal designations pertaining to greater or lessor
member demand for space at the resort, are color coded:
Red time = greater demand
White time = average demand
Blue time = lessor demand
Red is the most valueable and
owners of a Red week can request
the prime times of the year in exchange, as well as the lessor-demand
times of the year. In other words,owners of Red weeks can request
any of the 52 weeks of the year. For standard exchanges White
or Blue time owners are limited
to the non-prime times of the year to exchange into a resort.
For short notice exchanges (60 days or less in advance of travel)
colors are ignored and a Blue or White week is allowed to exchange
for a Red week.
The RCI Directory designates for each resort, which weeks of the
year are rated as Red, White, or Blue.
For I.I. Interval International, the same concept applies,
but the I.I. colors for the same seasonal demand periods, are
Red,
Yellow, and Green.
For some resort destinations the demand is high year around, so they
are rated Red year around.
For floating time resorts, there is a common misconception that if a
week is Red, it means that a
reservation can be made during any of the 52 weeks of the year. This
may or may not be true, depending on the resort.
The resort's rules and regulations set forth what the reservation
period (from and to) is for each color designation.
There are many benefits to membership in an exchange company, in
addition to the ability to exchange:
1. "Vacation Escapes" or bonus weeks,
members have the ability to rent additional weeks, and weekends, on
a space available basis, at very attractive rates. These extra weeks
do not require the "banking" of a week, nor the payment of a
maintenance fee. These weeks are more available during the off
season, and on short notice, but the rates are extremely attractive
and these weeks can be used as often as wanted.
2.Family and friends are allowed to use a member's
accommodation as guests and the exchange company even provides a
Guest Certificate to the guest. A week's vacation provides one of
the most wonderful and appreciated gifts anyone could offer to loved
ones!
3. Timeshare exchange companies are also full service travel
agencies, large agencies booking for millions of owners. As a result
they often have extremely good rates on airlines and package
condo/air packages.
4. Most people don't know that RCI has a program whereby a
timeshare can be used as a credit towards various cruises. If you
are an RCI member, call RCI for details at 800-338-7777.
5. As a part of their membership, RCI and I.I. members
receive bi-monthly very high quality color resort directory
supplements. These supplements contain the new resorts added since
the publication of the main Resort Directory. Supplements are jam
packed with vacation packages and information about the resorts and
the geographical settings of the resorts, providing the vacationer
with the ability to know what to expect. The articles are extremely
well written and informative concerning the various regions of the
world where one might want to consider vacationing.
In addition to RCI and I.I., there are many independent exchange
companies who also perform timeshare exchanges. These companies
exchange into many of the same resorts affiliated with RCI and I.I.,
plus a few more.
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