Marriott II questions

How do you know if the week you deposit qualifies for an AC? I am a platinum owner at MGV. Is it there any benefit to securing a platinum week that is in high demand when looking to excahnge into II or just any platinum week? Thanks

sox21 said:

How do you know if the week you deposit qualifies for an AC? I am a platinum owner at MGV. Is it there any benefit to securing a platinum week that is in high demand when looking to excahnge into II or just any platinum week? Thanks

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There is always a benefit to reserving the highest demand week possible if you plan to trade regardless of whether it qualifies for an AC.

The better the week, the more likely it will qualify for an AC and the better its trading power will be.

There is no guaranteed way to know other than to call and ask. Which weeks get an AC can easily change from year to year as demand (versus expected supply) changes for a particular week or resort.

Sometimes a note will show up in your II account that a particular week will qualify for an AC if deposited by a specified date.

I'm new to TS, so I am not familiar with AC. Could you explain what it is? Thanks

Accommodation Certificate
Interval International (II) offers an incentive bonus to owners of high-demand weeks who deposit them with II. That bonus is an Accommodation Certificate ("AC"), which can be exchanged for a week through II. Your exchange choices will be limited and generally won’t be prime season weeks. Thus, there are effectively blackout dates and blackout resorts. The restrictions for your AC will differ from the restrictions on some other ACs.

In addition, you can use your deposited week to exchange for another week.

During the last 59 days (“Flexchange”) before a week for which you would like to redeem your AC, you can see almost any week available in the II exchange system, other than those weeks restricted for various resort system (such as Marriott) internal trading preferences.

The cost to redeem an AC ranges from $229 to $429: $229 for a studio, $279 for a 1BR, $329 for a 2BR, $379 for a 3BR, and $429 for a 4BR.

The AC is valid for one year from the date it is issued, which is usually soon after you make your deposit. Thus, to use your AC, you must reserve and take your additional vacation during that one-year period. That suggests some strategy, since the longer you wait before depositing, the longer you will have to use that AC once it is issued. The challenge is to balance that additional time against possible reduced trading power for your week due to delaying your deposit.

There is no guarantee that you'll receive an AC every year you deposit your week. The demand for your week could change, possibly leading II to stop offering an AC for your week. Also, you won't get an AC if you use the request-first method for requesting an exchange, under which you hold onto your week until you get an exchange that's acceptable to you.

Because most available weeks that can be confirmed with an AC are off-season (except during Flexchange), ACs don’t work well for everyone. Many, many ACs go unused. However, if you don’t mind traveling in the off-season or scheduling your trip on short notice (during Flexchange), you might well be thrilled with the results.

To determine if your week currently qualifies for an AC, follow these steps:

1. Log in to your II account.

2. Select "Exchange".

3. Select "Deposit/Extend a Week".

4. Select "Deposit" for an eligible (1BR or larger) 2008 week.

5. Enter (or make up) your 8-digit Marriott "Reservation No." starting with "8". Also select your actual or a hypothetical "Check-in Date". Then click on "Continue". (If you are a Florida Club member and you use a week from a Florida Club resort, you will have some addtional info - a unit # - you need to insert.)

6. If you are lucky, the next screen ("Deposit Details") will have two paragraphs. The first paragraph will explain how long you will have to complete an exchange if you deposit the week. The second paragraph, the one you hope to see, will read something like the following:

Deposit this unit and you'll earn a Bonus Week Certificate that's good for an additional one-week accommodations at an Interval member resort (certain fees and restrictions may apply). Once your unit is verified for deposit, the certificate will be issued so come back to IntervalWorld.com soon to check on the status of - and to start planning - your bonus vacation.

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or you might see at this page or the previous page the following:

Deposit this week and get an extra seven-night resort stay! See details

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7. At that "Deposit Details" screen, do not click on "Deposit" unless you really want to deposit it!

sox21 said:

How do you know if the week you deposit qualifies for an AC? I am a platinum owner at MGV. Is it there any benefit to securing a platinum week that is in high demand when looking to excahnge into II or just any platinum week? Thanks

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For the past 2 years - (2006 and 2007) II has offered an AC for Grande Vista Units 1BR and larger for Feb 1 thru Easter week deposits only.

Confirming last post, I deposited a 1BR portion for Spring Break (March 8th?) week and got an A/C. Deposited 63 days out, too (daughter's plans collapsed late). Using it at Ocean Point in early December (the times available on this A/C were not the greatest, but it sure beats the old sharp stick in the eye, as we say).

Pat, Did you receive an AC for your Grand Vista 2007 deposit? I have an Easter Cypress Harbour week and last checked a few days ago, when the II rep told me no AC offered as yet. It is on a "request first" exchange request at present, so I can't tell by looking on line. Last year I did get an AC.

calgal said:

Pat, Did you receive an AC for your Grand Vista 2007 deposit? I have an Easter Cypress Harbour week and last checked a few days ago, when the II rep told me no AC offered as yet. It is on a "request first" exchange request at present, so I can't tell by looking on line. Last year I did get an AC.

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I callede back in February and they said yes, I deposited my 2007 week with SFX this year - received a bonus week which can be used any time until 12/07 plus a Mexican Bonus week :whoopie:

So they give AC's for Spring weeks... Hmmm... I reserved an Xmas week, thinking that would be more desirable, but so far, no AC..

The official line from II (I was talking to a customer services rep yesterday) is that the trading power of a unit and the offer of an AC are related, but not synonymous. One can, in a particular year, get high demand and low supply for a relatively low trading power unit (and therefore an AC will be offered), or a low demand, high supply for a week at a particular resort (no AC), but it has high trading power. My spring break Platinum Plus week at the Aruba Surf Club was not offered an AC this year for a 2007 week; it was offered an AC for the 2005 and 2006 weeks. However, it does have a high trading power.

One can then go to customer service (as I did), and explain the history of the availabilities of an AC in previous year, and the fact that my unit has a high trading power, and that no weeks at Spring Break 2007 are not currently available for exchange. He then gave me an AC.

KProuty said:

So they give AC's for Spring weeks... Hmmm... I reserved an Xmas week, thinking that would be more desirable, but so far, no AC..

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Look in the II book at the start of the geographical section your T/S is in. It lists their demand index. Get a week with the highest number. II's numbers here are for real demand, based on location requests. In Florida, it is Feb-April, pretty much.

I'm a newbie and just deposited our 2 br at the MGV for 2007 and when I looked at my II account there was this floater week. Is this the AC you are all talking about? No one mentioned this to me, neither our Marriott sales rep or the customer service person we're assigned to at Marriott. I hope this is the bonus you're all talking about.

Thanks,

Diane

Yes, that would be your AC. I deposited our MGV 3 bdrm and ended up with two ACs. Not sure how it happened, but I now have 2 ACs plus the week I deposited to use.

Thanks for reply. Now what do I do and what can I expect to get with this AC?

Best,

Diane

dmharris said:

Thanks for reply. Now what do I do and what can I expect to get with this AC?

Best,

Diane

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You use it just as you would a regularly deposited week. It has some limitations, but you can search with it on the II website to see what's available for exchange.

dmharris said:

I'm a newbie and just deposited our 2 br at the MGV for 2007 and when I looked at my II account there was this floater week. Is this the AC you are all talking about? No one mentioned this to me, neither our Marriott sales rep or the customer service person we're assigned to at Marriott. I hope this is the bonus you're all talking about.

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I have the same problem. The Marriott Sales person neve mentioned one thing about AC's to us. I finally heard about it here on TUG.

First of all I own only 1 week at MGV.

My II account looks wierd. It has 3 things listed with the (FLOAT). I have no idea what these are. It says to call your club to make reservations. So I don't think that these are AC's.

I was goin to call II but they closed at 7pm tonight.

Thanks
Amy

seema said:

My spring break Platinum Plus week at the Aruba Surf Club was not offered an AC this year for a 2007 week; it was offered an AC for the 2005 and 2006 weeks.

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II generally announces AC periods as the year goes on, from my experience, generally 8-10 months prior to checkin. So in the April Aruba case II probably has not announced if April weeks gets an AC or not. If you wait until August they'd probably tell you that the week qualifies for an AC - you're just depositing it too early.

It seems a bit strange to have the owner wait months to deposit their week, but they run the business and they probably know that they can get a bunch of weeks without handing out AC's because people just bank weeks 12 months out because that's what we're told to do to maximize our trading power - and some people want to get in the cue earlier and less interested in an AC.

I am a newbie also and I was told last week if I deposit my Ocean Watch Easter week and they decide to give an AC for that week in the future, I would be eligable for the AC even though I had already deposited my week. The II rep said they didn't get to April weeks yet. Is this true?

Kazakie said:

II generally announces AC periods as the year goes on, from my experience, generally 8-10 months prior to checkin. So in the April Aruba case II probably has not announced if April weeks gets an AC or not. If you wait until August they'd probably tell you that the week qualifies for an AC - you're just depositing it too early.

It seems a bit strange to have the owner wait months to deposit their week, but they run the business and they probably know that they can get a bunch of weeks without handing out AC's because people just bank weeks 12 months out because that's what we're told to do to maximize our trading power - and some people want to get in the cue earlier and less interested in an AC.

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Depositing this week in 2004 and 2005, one year in advance, automatically entitled me to an AC. Depositing the year one year in advance a few weeks ago, did not entitle me automatically to an AC. However, I was able to convince a customer services representative of the validity of depositing now, and getting the AC now.

I think an accomodation certificate actually says that in II. Mine are both gone now, but I'm pretty sure they were labled that way. The II listing is not 100% accurate. I get BOTH my week and "Florida Club" showing up for my Grande Vista. I also get 2007 showing up for my Maui and Ko Olina when I only have EOY on even years. If you try to reserve these weeks with Marriott they correct it (called and asked).