The way it works is relatively simple. Members around the world deposit inventory into a pool managed by a resort exchange company. These resort exchange companies affiliate themselves with thousands of resorts all over the world. Members who own at these resorts around the world, trade or "exchange" between the thousands of resorts within their exchange program. For many this would involve trading a week at a "home" resort for a week at another resort. However many members today are converting their usage rights to points which increases their options and gives you credit for any points that are leftover points for another vacation. Whether you are planning on exchanging weeks, or points there are some common rules to understand before you get started: