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

hung5 wrote:

saturation of resorts IS a factor. common sense. More resorts, more availability. People shopping to exchange or rent will have more choices in Orlando because of the number of resort options available. yes, your five factors are very important but to completely ignore the saturation of resorts in a destination would not be wise.

I am just speaking from experience of having this for six-plus years now. For example, there are much fewer resorts in Hawaii, and it is a very popular destination, so owning a week in Hawaii would have more power than owning a week in Orlando, because there are just many more places available. DESPITE the fact that Orlando is the top destination in the world. They rate Orlando No. 1 based on that, not trading power.

We have a week at the Vistana and have not been able to trade for anything desired. We went to Hawaii on a direct exchange, not RCI, through research and hard work online. Other than that, Las Vegas (12 miles out of town), Sedona, and Vacation Village in Orlando (not recommended) are the only places we have been able to get.

I cannot help with the Vistana problem but I would like to say that I was told that waterfront property had better exchange value than property that was not on the water. We were told that it is easier to exchange into Orlando than out of it for the same reason you mentioned, too much available accomodations.

Because we use our timeshare, we purchased a lockout villa to give us two weeks for the price of one. In other words, we "lock out" our Mariott villa when we select our vacation time within our season. We reserve the lockout for the first week and the 1 bedroom for the second. Our additional vacation cost is the lockout fee of $85. We have also been able to exchange our lockout for other Marriott timeshares withing a 60 day travel window when we had that flexibility.

You might consider that for exchanging. If you are an Interval International member, you can request an exchange as far in advance as you can without depositing your week. During the time you are waiting for what you want, you can also use the internet to check II for other locations you may be able to go to. My wife and I exchanged into a Marriott on Hilton Head a week in advance of the occupancy date. We also went to Marriott Newport a day or two before occupancy. We were planning to stay at a hotel when someone deposited the week with II and we were able to get it.

Tim