Bill and Nancy G. bought their timeshare a couple of years ago through the Disney Vacation Club, a points-based system. They are allowed to use their points for stays of varying lengths at multiple Disney properties, or they can bank them into the Resort Condominiums International system to trade for other timeshares or for things like rental cars, cruises, and the like.

Overall, Bill says that he has been thrilled with the developer, but not so much with the exchange company. The value of his points have actually gone up — since new timeshare owners are being charged more than he was in order to buy the same number of points — but when he tries to use those points outside the Disney system, he often feels stymied.

“We have been pleased with the Disney point system, ” he explains. “We have been able to tailor the number of days we spend at their resorts, and have had no scheduling problems. We do, however, avoid the peak periods such as Christmas because we want to avoid the crowds.

“After having had good experiences with Disney, we paid to convert our membership into the RCI points system. We have found the RCI system to be pretty much useless. There is no flexibility to select a few days here or there, as we had been led to believe. For example, we put in for any days in San Francisco from January 1 to April 1 this past January. There wasn't a single day available, even though this was the off-season. We have tried other locations, always without success.”

Chris N., the man who has been buying timeshares since 2000, is not quite so down on trying to make exchanges through a company like Resort Condominiums International. However, he says that timeshare exchanging is an art, not a science, and that everyone should be prepared to learn from trial and error.

The two things Chris says are most important to keep in mind are that you are dealing with the laws of supply and demand, and that everyone is trying to trade “across or up,” as opposed to seeking out smaller, less-desirable units than the one they already own. “Be realistic with your expectations, ” Chris says. And do your homework — especially when looking for resale units for the sole purpose of exchanging them.

“Thanks to advice on TUG, several years ago, I purchased a great resale at a resort in the mountains of North Carolina,” Chris explains. “At the time, the resort had several repossessed weeks; they were reacquired from owners frustrated by a recent dispute between the resort and the management of nearby recreational facilities. This dispute jeopardized the existing agreement for owners to use these facilities. At the same time, the resort had instituted a three-year special assessment to fund some large improvements and maintenance to the resort. As a result, owners would have to pay an additional $140 a year for three years and face the possibility that [much] of the nearby recreation would now be off-limits.

“When several owners walked away from their weeks, the resort was left holding them with no owner to pay the annual fees. I was able to buy an annual late-April week for $500, with the annual maintenance fee being $400. In the last three years, I have consistently traded this week into the top-rated resort in Cancun. If I were to buy a week at the Cancun resort, it would cost me $20,000 with an annual maintenance fee of $650.

“I have never been to North Carolina, and I will probably never visit my home resort,” he says. But given the purchase price, annual fees, and trading power of the unit, it has been a good deal in the long run. “I would never think about vacationing in a twenty-year-old condo on a North Carolina lake,” Chris says, but “it is very popular with folks within driving distance.”