DAE vs II & S. Africa

My resort only trades with II, but as I understand it DAE provides very much the same service. Am I missing something, why "exclusive" with II (not RCI) but DAE can arrange trades?

I ask because I am looking for a particular resort on the north eastern coast of S Africa. II has very little (one resort) presence near there. Can DAE tell me (by phone) how many exchanges they have done in the past few years with a particular resort, to get an idea how likely a successful trade might be? If not then I'd just rent from the resort. I don't see any owner rentals. Thanks.

Yes, you can exchange through DAE even if your resort is affiliated with II. Some resorts give their owners a hard time about that, but they have no right to refuse.

I can't answer your other question, but I have a research suggestion for you if you haven't already done this: Go to http://www.daelive.com/search/default.aspx and search their availability in South Africa for all months and all years. You will not only see upcoming availability, but also upcoming exchanges that have already been confirmed, marked as "Sold". That should give you an idea about some of the resorts they get inventory from. You don't have to be a member to search online availability.

Thanks Judy. Searching all 2012 on DAE just gives one St Lucia resort week available (for the far north coast) & I'm looking even further north. Nothing for dates further out.

Yesterday on the phone DAE said searching gives "just the left overs"; that being a member (I joined) & depositing will bring in more units & those are already snatched up, but as you point out any should come up as "sold" that occurred recently. Good point.

I emailed the resort, I'll see if I learn anything from them. It's an "out of the way place", but I understand it is, at least partially, a ts.

Hello.

Thanks for the inquiry and the input! The process you are discussing is our unavailable inventory "request" system. If a member does not find what they are looking for online, they can place a request for a specific vacation week and destination. This does not require payment of any kind. We simply ask that if you make a request and we find what you are looking for, that you book it! Enjoy your "customized" exchange!

Our exchange system ensures that our newly deposited vacation weeks are matched to these requests before they are ever listed as avaialble on our web site.

We are working on better ways to show actual booking history online, to give members a clearer picture of their vacation possibilities.

For more information see

http://www.daelive.com/articles/news.aspx?ArticleID=2290

where we explain the process in a just a bit more detail.

Thanks again. I hope this helps.