Prime weeks as bonus

[Kola]

Mark,
My question relates to the availability of prime summer weeks in Europe as SFX bonus weeks. Recently one SFX member stated that they .... "wanted a place in Scotland between Edinburgh and Glasgow. I asked for July or August. A year in advance, SFX offered me Duchally Country resort, for any week in July.... " and they got a 2 BR in July 07 as SFX bonus for $379 for the week.

Now, assuming the facts are right, it's a superb deal. Being a bit familiar with the area, it makes me wonder how often do you offer "any week in July" in Scotland as a bonus week ? It's very difficult to get any decent exchange anywhere in the UK in the peak summer season. What does it take to swing a deal of this kind with SFX ? Does SFX have access to summer weeks in other UK resorts comparable to the Duchally Country Estate ? Is there something I am missing ?

Michael

[falmouth3]

Hi Mike,
You sure are a doubting Thomas. Here is the history on my bonus week, right from my SFX account:

Request# 63985
Confirmed: 8/22/2006
Resort: Duchally Country Estate
Dates: 7/22/2007 - 7/29/2007
Fees: $379.00

I will also be interested in Mark's response about the availability of prime weeks in Europe.

Sue

[Mark @SFX]

Originally Posted by Kola

Mark,
My question relates to the availability of prime summer weeks in Europe as SFX bonus weeks. Recently one SFX member stated that they .... "wanted a place in Scotland between Edinburgh and Glasgow. I asked for July or August. A year in advance, SFX offered me Duchally Country resort, for any week in July.... " and they got a 2 BR in July 07 as SFX bonus for $379 for the week.

Now, assuming the facts are right, it's a superb deal. Being a bit familiar with the area, it makes me wonder how often do you offer "any week in July" in Scotland as a bonus week ? It's very difficult to get any decent exchange anywhere in the UK in the peak summer season. What does it take to swing a deal of this kind with SFX ? Does SFX have access to summer weeks in other UK resorts comparable to the Duchally Country Estate ? Is there something I am missing ?

Michael

Michael - thank you for your post. Regardless of which exchange company you use, there is a "limit of space". That limit is predicated on how many timeshare resorts are in the area you want to go, and how many of their members relinquish their time into the exchange pool, and how many other people are you competing with to get that very limited space. (There are other factors too, but these are the essentials).

The point being, no matter which exchange company you use, if you are requesting space in premium demand time, for premium demand locations and good quality resorts in a region with "very few resorts", the demand is greater than the supply and thus not an easy exchange. The greater the demand, the more Flexible you need to be with locations and dates. The lesser demanded seasonal periods offer much more availability, and generally require less Flexibility.

Europe for quality resorts during premium Summer time (when most Europeans to their vacationing) is not the easiest time of the year to exchange, but still possible. Under-promise, Over-deliver...

[Kola]

Mark,

Your "answer" sounds like an Introduction to Elementary Timesharing 101.
I regret to say that you have made every effort not to address any of my questions. Experienced politicians do this all the time. Maybe you should consider running for a political office ?

Michael

[ebram]

KOLA:
Would you have been satisfied if SFX policy was "overpromise and underdeliver?

[George07]

Originally Posted by ebram

KOLA:
Would you have been satisfied if SFX policy was "overpromise and underdeliver?

Whatever your motive, your question is simply irrelevant. The original post was quite valid with specific facts confirmed by Sue. As such, the post deserved a serious and constructive response. Instead, we were given a disappointing lecture in supply/demand theory even though most readers would have undersood that Mark was faced with certain proprietary information constraints. This does nothing to help build confidence in SFX.

George

[eal]

My experience with bonus weeks has been that AFTER I confirm an exchange that I have requested, the VC asks if I want to use a bonus week or a banked week. Depending on what is expiring the earliest I will decide at that point in time.

So the question of what can a bonus week "pull" in Europe in the summer isn't really relevant - the only question is what can SFX deliver for summer Europe units, and Sue has told her story about Scotland in July (at a lovely resort I might add).

[falmouth3]

This conversation with Michael started OY, where he was claiming that you only got overpriced leftovers - my paraphrase - from SFX for bonus weeks. I felt that I needed to point out that I've been very happy with my exchanges and bonus weeks and gave a few examples.

My experience is similar to EAL's. I can use either a banked week or a bonus week, but for this exchange, I used the bonus week because it was expiring first. I banked my exchange week very early and had this bonus week available.

Sue

[George07]

Originally Posted by falmouth3

This conversation with Michael started OY, where he was claiming that you only got overpriced leftovers - my paraphrase - from SFX for bonus weeks. I felt that I needed to point out that I've been very happy with my exchanges and bonus weeks and gave a few examples.

My experience is similar to EAL's. I can use either a banked week or a bonus week, but for this exchange, I used the bonus week because it was expiring first. I banked my exchange week very early and had this bonus week available.

Sue

You said that you gave "a few examples".
Other than your Duchally Estate case, what other example did you quote ?

George

[aliikai2]

They aren't for everybody, and as much as you would like to find the fountain of plenty for these types of units,they are just scarce, period.

Mark is one of the best timeshare reps in the business, and has helped quite a few on this board.

NOBODY CAN PROMISE YOU AN EXCHANGE , LET ALONE IN THE SUMMER IN EUROPE OR THE UK!!!!!

As for bonus weeks being only overpriced last minute stuff, these are bonus weeks confirmed from my account

Confirmed: 1/12/2007
Resort: Wyndham Kona Hawaiian Resort
Dates: 11/11/2007 - 11/18/2007


Confirmed: 10/27/2006
Resort: Maui Lea @ Maui Hill
Dates: 6/11/2007 - 6/18/2007


Confirmed: 3/31/2006
Resort: Wyndham Kona Hawaiian Resort
Dates: 4/22/2007 - 4/29/2007


Confirmed: 3/31/2006
Resort: Wyndham Kona Hawaiian Resort
Dates: 4/29/2007 - 5/6/2007

Confirmed: 3/31/2006
Resort: Wyndham Kona Hawaiian Resort
Dates: 5/6/2007 - 5/13/2007



Confirmed: 2/28/2006
Resort: Kahana Falls Resort
Dates: 2/1/2007 - 2/8/2007


Confirmed: 1/30/2006
Resort: Kona Coast Resort
Dates: 5/7/2006 - 5/14/2006


Confirmed: 1/24/2006
Resort: Kona Coast Resort
Dates: 4/15/2006 - 4/22/2006



Confirmed: 9/23/2005
Resort: Mauna Loa Village By The Sea
Dates: 6/17/2006 - 6/24/2006