Timeshare Exchange Programs

One of the consistent questions about the value of owning timeshare is “what if I don’t want to vacation in the same place every year?” This is a very valid concern. I mean Orlando is nice but how many times can you really see Mickey Mouse before you see him as an out of work actor in a mouse suit? This problem can be addressed easily in Timeshare Companies that have multiple timeshare resorts, because many of them will allow you to trade your weeks within their own network. But, what happens when you are a timeshare owner of an independent resort? This is where the need for Timeshare exchange companies is at a premium.

What is an Exchange Company?
In 1974 Resort Condominiums International better known as RCI pioneered a concept that has become the backbone of the entire vacation ownership industry. Their idea was to create a network of independent Timeshare resort developers and act as a liaison for all of their timeshare owners. The concept was amazing in its simplicity, the good ones always are. Every season in every timeshare resort, there are rooms (called units in the timeshare lexicon) that sit empty because the owners of that resort have not reserved enough of that period to fill it to capacity. At the same time, the owners of any particular resort could be wishing that they were not married to one single resort, because there are many other places that they would like to visit. The idea by RCI was, why not create a program in which people from different timeshare ownership programs could search all of the resorts from every timeshare developer connected to the network? This would ensure that the resorts would not sit empty and the timeshare owners would never again have to go to the same resort repeatedly. The Resort would pay a little to RCI to be part of this amazing network of owners, and the timeshare owners would pay a little in processing fees to have RCI to facilitate the exchange with someone else who wanted to stay in the resort unit they were not using. With this, the idea of vacation ownership just became a whole lot more enticing.

RCI
RCI was created in 1974, as we now know they were the driving force and creative minds behind what is now industry standard, the timeshare exchange program. They could actually be considered the Henry Ford or Alexander Graham Bell of the Timeshare industry. The years since have lead to enormous growth resulting in an ownership network of literally millions of timeshare owners. In fact, you would be hard pressed to find a timeshare program that does not employ some kind of integrated exchange network. The RCI Vacation Ownership resort network now has more than 3700 affiliated timeshare resorts which are located all over the world. If you are interested in Las Vegas Timeshares, RCI can get you there. If you are interested in timeshare in Whistler Canada, RCI is there as well. Even such exotic Timeshare destinations as Paris, the far east and Africa.

The timeshare owners and resorts associated with RCI are a unique group of travel enthusiasts with the comfort and security of ownership blended perfectly with the versatility and flexibility of thousands of timeshare resorts and destinations to fill any desire no matter how extreme. According to RCI , their members “benefit from the knowledge, experience and resources of RCI's Guides, who provide assistance in the planning of exchange vacations...RCI is the world's expert in exchange vacations. An exchange vacation allows members to discover new places and enjoy the freedom of resort vacationing all over the world.” For more information on RCI visit their website www.RCI.com