In February's newsletter I announced a new policy regarding the making of trade requests.  The reason for the creation of the new policy was that over the past six months we've noticed a significant increase in the number of members who have asked that we check into the availabilities of one or more properties and then, once we've found that one or more of the requested properties are available for the desired dates, the requesting members have changed their minds about traveling and have withdrawn their requests.

 

While we completely understand that things come up and plans change, we want to make sure that we don't bother our members with requests which aren't "serious" and we strive to keep our overhead as low as possible so that we can keep our fees as low as possible.  For these reasons, we have always asked that members only submit trade requests for properties which they're prepared to book if/when we let them know that the property is available for their desired dates.

 

The truth is that we haven't had the heart to adhere to the new policy we announced in February because we LOVE our members and don't want to penalize anyone.  On the other hand, we do have to operate as efficiently as possible for all of our members, so effective immediately we're implementing an upfront "Inquiry Deposit" of $250 for each trade request.  This deposit can be put on a credit card and will be applied to the transaction fee for the property which we arrange for you.  If we are unable to fulfill a particular trade request, the charge will be removed from your card.

  

The deposit is not "per property."  In other words, if you're planning a vacation and are interested in several properties, we'll be delighted to look into each of the properties which are of interest to you and will apply the deposit to whichever property you choose.

 

As always, we urge our members to please check airfares and coordinate travel plans with all involved parties before requesting that we arrange a property for you.

 

Thank you so much for your cooperation in helping us serve you and all of our greatly appreciated members as perfectly as possible!

 

All the best,

Leah