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Re: sheraton vistana villages exchange power (by Timothy S.):

chrisj87 wrote:

Here's the scoop on exchange power. It actually has nothing to do with the saturation of resorts, rather a combination of 5 factors: location, season, size, quality and amenities. If you break any of these timeshare "rules", you will have difficulty with exchanges. Let's go over these briefly: 1) location is vitally important. If you own in one of the top three tourist destinations, you will have an easier time (3 is Hawaii, 2 is Las Vegas, 1 is Orlando) due to the demand. 2)The season in which you own is extremely important, because not only do you need a high or red time of year in which you own, you need a week that can be used as floating time throughout the year (be very leery of points based systems like Sheraton, marriott, dvc, fairfield, etc.). 3) SIZE, SIZE, SIZE of the unit you own has been playing a huge factor. According to II, in their catalog (2007/2008) on page 12, "a unit with more private sleeping areas yields more trading power", and this is becoming a big trend. 4) Quality: if you have something less than a 5 star or gold crown, you are making a huge mistake. 5) Amenities: in your unit and on the resort will yield a higher demand, if you have a plethera of stuff, not just a pool and a barbeque grill. You've made the right choice in orlando, now go find at least, a three bedroom unit (preferably not a lock-off which is somewhat hard to find) or a four bedroom in the land of timeshare. Remember, the big rule of timeshare is to trade equally or down. Don't ever count on trading up just because you own with a "big name" or you own in a points system. 'nuff sed....

A correction to a statement about points based systems.

My wife and I own 4 Marriott timeshare villas. The Marriott timeshares I am familiar with are not points based systems. Marriott sells variable weeks in seasons. Grande Vista in Orlando has at least Platinum (high demand winter months) and Gold. I think there is a third. West Palm Beach Marriott has Platinum, Gold and Silver. Marriotts in Hilton Head have Platinum, Gold, Silver and Bronze based on demand.

The Marriott points system is similar to point systems used by credit card companies and airlines. If you stay at Marriott hotels or use a Marriott credit card, you can earn points which can be redeemed for travel awards or merchandise. This is totally unrelated to timeshare ownership, however, if you purchase a timeshare from Marriott, you may deposit your week with Marriott for award points.

Tim