Timeshare Exchange Companies

Timeshare exchange companies offer the most options for extending the use of your timeshare by allowing you to swap your vacation time for vacationing in a different resort, often in a different part of the world. Within this niche of timesharing, you will find a wide range of choices and plans.

Large membership-based timeshare exchange companies include thousands of timeshare resorts and hotels within their exchange inventory. In addition to their exchange options, they often feature deeply discounted last minute deals or other travel perks. Some companies offer international exchanges, while others target only a specific geographic area. Most, but not all, charge both an annual membership fee and an exchange fee.

Among the most widely known timeshare exchange companies are:

• Crown Vacation Exchange
• 7Across (formerly Dial An Exchange/DAE)
• Interval International (II, also known as ‘Interval’)
• New Horizons Exchange
• Platinum Interchange
• Resort Condominiums International (RCI)
• SFX Preferred Resort (formerly called the San Francisco Exchange)
• Trading Places International (TPI)

Banking, then Using Your Timeshare Through Exchange

Exchange companies provide a way for you to take your timeshare ownership and exchange it for one of several ways to vacation. To participate, owners will need to become a member of a timeshare exchange company and deposit, or “bank”, the use of their timeshare into the exchange company’s network of resort options, then choose vacation time from the available options within the network.

If an owner has a week of use, they will deposit that week and, most often, select a week at a different resort from the available resorts and weeks within the exchange system. This is how timeshare exchange first began, but it has evolved into much more over the past 40-plus years.

Exchange, Points and Travel

With the advent of points programs, exchange companies have morphed into virtual travel agencies, allowing members to either transfer the use of their week into points at their resort or, in the case of points-based timeshare developers such as Wyndham or Hilton, deposit those points into the exchange systems for exchange use.

Many larger timeshare exchange companies such as RCI and Interval International offer these types of programs, where points can be used as a type of vacation currency for airfare, cruises, group tours and a range of other travel products. Other exchange providers such as 7Across offer free membership for direct week-to-week exchanges (with an exchange fee only after an exchange is booked) but also allow members to upgrade into purchased programs where they can deposit the use of their week to obtain discounted travel products.

Expand Your Options Through Timeshare Exchange Companies

The timeshare industry was built on a standard annual week of vacation use at the same resort, a concept which gave birth to the timeshare exchange companies as owners saw the need for more flexibility in their vacation options. While the industry has moved beyond the idea of a static timeshare week, the value proposition of exchange companies has remained consistent, if not increased, by evolving to provide a variety of plans to suit just about every vacation taste.

The best part is that you can enjoy the benefits of timeshare exchange through buying a timeshare on the resale market and save thousands of dollars compared to owners who bought through a resort. When you buy a timeshare as a resale, you’ll save 50-60% off the cost of a timeshare offered by a resort since you’re buying directly from an owner and saving on the sales commissions and marketing costs which are baked into the retail prices at the resorts.

After buying a timeshare here at BuyaTimeshare.com, you’ll have your choice of timeshare exchange companies and can enjoy the benefits of worldwide vacations. Begin your search for a timeshare by clicking onto the Timeshare Directory button near the top of the page and have fun creating your own vacation program.