Some of the benefits of owning a timeshare is the options provided by Timeshare Exchange Companies. Being a member of an established and reputable exchange company can allow you to swap your timeshare to travel to another destination at a different time of the year. This gives flexibility and proves to be a huge bonus.
Established exchange programs operate on a “fair exchange” system. It works like a bank account – what you deposit into the “SPACE-BANK” is what you can withdraw. It is a like-for-like system whereby the “value” of the timeshare you have SPACE-BANKED has a direct impact on the “VALUE” of the exchange you can withdraw and enjoy.
“VALUE” is determined by the quality of the timeshare being used as well as the seasonality of the time being deposited.
How to make sure your timeshare gets the exchange you want
Register your timeshare week with all of the timeshare exchange companies. RCI, iExchange, First Exchange and DAE (previously Dial-and-exchange) are among the top South African exchange companies.
Do not deposit (Space-bank) your week. You are REGISTERING ONLY – make this quite clear with the exchange operator you are working with. GET THE NAME OF THE PERSON, DATE AND TIME YOU DO THE REGISTRATION. They will give you a member number which you will be able to use to access their websites. ONLY WHEN YOU GET THE EXCHANGE YOU WANT AND THE EXCHANGE COMPANY CONFIRMS THIS, THEN – AND ONLY THEN – DO YOU SPACE-BANK YOUR TIMESHARE WEEK. Once you SPACE-BANK your week with any company you CAN NOT SPACE-BANK WITH ANYONE ELSE – If you do this could lead to legal complications.
Study the terms and conditions of each exchange company carefully – each works on a slightly different system. Each gives different “VALUES” to your timeshare. How they allocate the value or points to each resort can be found on their respective websites. (see an example below)
Once registered you will be able to go online to see what is your timeshares value. You will be able to see the resorts that are available for you to choose from. You will be able to do your exchange online, however, I prefer the one-on-one approach where you can speak to the operators. You will be able to see the many holiday bargains on offer.
Expert Tips
THE EARLIER YOU SPACE-BANK the greater the chances of getting what you are looking for.
THE EARLIER YOU SPACE-BANK the greater the chances of getting what you are looking for.
BE FLEXIBLE when selecting a resort or an area. There are many fine resorts in any area to choose from. This certainly helps to achieve your goals.
BE FLEXIBLE, if possible, as to the time you want to travel. This gives you added flexibility.
Some added benefits of belonging to a timeshare exchange company
Owners can allow family or friends or colleagues or staff to use their exchange holiday – as a wonderful gift or an incentive for your staff. Being a member of an exchange program also gives you access to additional and high-quality discounted rental holidays. These can be purchased without using your exchange holiday time. – These are known as Extra Holidays, Bonus weeks or Getaways.
Exchange companies offer a wide range of leisure and lifestyle benefits and are able to provide these at highly competitive rates. Members should contact their exchange companies for details of the specific benefits.
Example: Trading value of Magalies Park
“We are interested in learning about the trading power of weeks at the Magaliespark Timeshare Resort“, a client said, and “Do you have a list of the points value (trading power) of the Magaliespark weeks? She also asked, “what are the points values for other holiday resorts in SA if we wanted to use our points elsewhere?”. This came from Ilse, for which we thank her.
We conducted a Timeshare Points comparison between Magaliespark Resort and some of the other most popular resorts in South Africa. We used a two-bedroom, six-sleeper self catering unit for the calculations.
MAGALIESPARK equaled 6 050 Points
CABANA BEACH – Umhlanga Rocks, KZN – 4 750 Points
BAKUBUNG – near Sun City, North West – 5200 Points
NGWENYA – Mpumulanga – 4600 Points
BANTRY BAY – Cape Town – 5600 Points
DRAKENSBERG SUN- Central Drakensberg – 5600 Points
CHAMPAGNE SPORTS – Drakensburg – 5650 Points
MARGATE SANDS – Margate Natal South Coast – the Points value for a similar three-bedroom apartment is 5800 Points
As you can see the trading power of Magalies Park is very powerful. Consequently, timeshare owners can expect to exchange their weeks with weeks at many of the top resorts in South Africa, and the weeks will cost much less.
Note that you can only exchange Peak weeks into Peak weeks, no matter how many Points you have. At Magaliespark Timeshare Resort there are 13 Peak weeks in the School calendar and 39 out-of-season weeks. However, there are many weeks that fall outside of the school calendar that fall into the Private School holidays.
Interested in finding out more about Timeshare Exchange companies in South Africa? We recommend reading: iExchange – a Leading Timeshare Exchange
