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Using Your Timeshare for Exchange

Some people buy a timeshare planning on returning to the same resort year after year. Others, however, like the long-run savings of timeshare, but want more variety in travel destinations, so they enjoy the flexibility they gain with exchange.

The Exchange Model

The concept of exchange is a simple one. When you buy a timeshare at a particular resort, that resort will almost always be affiliated with at least one timeshare exchange company, the most prevalent being Resort Condominiums International (RCI) and Interval International (II). Timeshare exchange programs give you the flexibility of buying a timeshare someplace like Vermont and exchanging that unit for a comparable unit in any other timeshare resort in the world affiliated with the exchange company.

Your resort may also have an internal exchange program. For instance, if you own a Hyatt Vacation Club timeshare, you can choose to exchange to another Hyatt resort instead of going into the RCI or II systems. Obviously, the bigger the network of timeshare resorts, the more exchange options you have.

The new RedWeek.com Exchange program does not require a resort affiliation. That means, unlike RCI or II, if you own a timeshare at any resort, regardless of it's other affiliations, you can exchange through RedWeek.com. This new system gives you access to all timeshare resorts, rather than just a sub-set, as is the case with II and RCI.

Trading Power: The Value of Your Timeshare

The key to performing successful future exchanges is the value, sometimes called "trading power" of your timeshare week. Here's the scoop: when you buy a timeshare, unless you're buying vacation points, you usually have the ability to select the season and unit size at a home resort with desirable amenities and location. Exchange companies take these factors and put them into an equation to figure your timeshare's "trading power" - the RedWeek Exchange program calls this your RedWeek Exchange Points value. Like most businesses, timeshare exchange companies work on supply and demand. This means you can't buy a one-bedroom week at a resort in Minnesota during the season where the weather never gets warmer than 0 degrees Farenheit and expect to exchange evenly for Christmas in Kauai. The Christmas week will go to someone who has an equally desirable week… and your week will go to someone who wants your week… or go into the exchange company or resort's rental pool.

Common sense should prevail here: if you buy an off-season timeshare week, you can generally exchange for off-season timeshare weeks in the same unit size. Trading up (and even DOWN, even if you request it) is usually difficult or impossible… that is, if you use RCI or II rather than the RedWeek Exchange program, which allows you to simply pay the difference (or keep the change).

This is where the RedWeek Exchange program is completely unique. We don't believe in the concept of a one-for-one trade. Owners almost always end up feeling like they've settled for a lesser value exchange, or are unable to get any exchange at all because their week isn't "valuable" enough. RedWeek assigns a points value to your week, which you then have three years to use to get a different week. Instead of being locked-out of higher value weeks, as long as you have at least 50% of the points required, you simply pay the difference between what you have and the price of the new week (currently just $1 per point). If you want a lesser value week, you keep the change, using any remaining points toward your next exchange.

Try the RedWeek Exchange Program

Unlike the traditional programs, the RedWeek Exchange program gives you access to ALL timeshare resorts in the world, and you aren't forced to trade one-for-one. If you have a high value week, you can deposit it and potentially get multiple lower value weeks in exchange. If you have a low value week, you'd simply pay the difference - getting access to otherwise unavailable weeks for a fraction of what it would cost you to rent.

• Get full details of the RedWeek Exchange program
• Get a free, no-obligation valuation to find out what your week is worth
• Browse or search for your exchange

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