Exchanging your deeded weeks can be fun and rewarding if you follow our advice.

When I started selling time share, we did not have the tools then that we have at our finger tips today. Mainly, the Internet.

One of the most frustrating events in today's world is calling a business and getting busy signals. You're probably being put on hold when all you want to do is submit a request for a resort. With the Internet, you can sit down with the family and actually have fun planning your next vacation to some far-off place.

The planning generally begins with some dreaming about and discussing desirable locations. Next, my wife and I usually sit down with the Interval International directory, next to the computer, and plan our time share vacations as far out as two years in advance. We then select the 5 star resorts at which we would like to vacation and enter that information into Interval World's "request" to exchange and the dates we would like to travel.

We have never been disappointed when exchanging our deeded weeks and planning ahead for our next vacation as far out as two years in advance. We didn't have to talk to anyone on the phone, nor did we have to wait for a response. We just entered where we would like to visit and the time frames for our vacations. After that, we sat back, checked the computer occasionally, and waited for notification of our confirmation which is sent by email. The excitement builds and we start studying the maps to complete the planning of our next adventure. Time to notify the relatives that another vacation is planned. "Who wants to join us this time?"

One of the drawbacks to planning your next vacation one year in advance is having your home resort maintenance fee paid in advance. We decided awhile back that having maintenance fees that come due during December for the coming year created a budget crunch at Christmas. We solved that problem by budgeting and sending our resorts a monthly amount for vacation, and when December rolled around, our maintenance fees were already paid for the coming year. No more budget crunches.

Be aware, however, that there may be "glitches" in short-term planning if you're particular about a specific vacation spot. Remember, we plan our vacations at least a year in advance, and many other people also do this to find the best resorts at prime locations. Short-term planning works well if someone can participate in Interval International's Getaway (vacancy available) program. By using the internet, you can discover locations which are immediately available, but be prepared to pay an additional charge beyond your basic yearly maintenance fee.

Our best advice is to plan your vacations ahead, as far as one year ahead of time, budget your maintenance fees to your resorts monthly, and submit your requests by the Internet.

Exchanging deeded weeks to Interval World's directory, click here.

Share your experiences about exchanging. Have you found it best to do the request by phone with the exchange company or by the Internet? Have you found points exchanging to be a problem?