# Interval Intl. question



## sosoangry (Oct 21, 2014)

We have owned a timeshare for 20 years and been members of II in that time. For first several years, we had no problem exchanging our top-week timeshare with II. However, more recently over the last few years, we have found it near impossible to successfully get a match for our exchange requests. We put in multiple dates and multiple resorts and still no luck. We call and have heated words with II, and yet they're seemingly trained to deflect angry member "feedback". I suspect that II has signed on many more members than they have available rooms, thus making demand far outstrip supply -- all the while making excessive $$$ in added member fees. I have no evidence of this but I wish the proper authority(s) investigated. This is outrageous.


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## DeniseM (Oct 21, 2014)

First of all, having "heated words," with an entry level employee at a large corporation is never going to accomplish what you want.  The people who answer the phones don't make or change policies, but yes, they do deal with unreasonable people all day long.

Without knowing exactly what you are depositing, and exactly what you are trying to exchange for, it's impossible to answer your question.

Please add that info., and we can offer a more detailed response.


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## tashamen (Oct 21, 2014)

sosoangry said:


> I suspect that II has signed on many more members than they have available rooms, thus making demand far outstrip supply -- all the while making excessive $$$ in added member fees.



II itself doesn't have any "rooms" (resort units) available for exchange - they only have what its members deposit for exchange.  The supply comes from those members.

It sounds like you may have a trade power issue, or perhaps are being overly optimistic in your requests.  As Denise said, it would be helpful to know what kind of resort requests you're making.


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## tschwa2 (Oct 21, 2014)

More members mean more weeks can be deposited. It is not as though II has x amount of rooms available and having more members who aren't depositing can get at the exchange pool.

What you are seeing may be that less top tier owners are depositing and more lower tier, lower season owners are and they all want those top tier, top season weeks.  Maybe you have always been able to uptrade in the past.  Also many of the big developers aren't building.  They don't have the excess unsold inventory they once had, and in the past dumped into II.  They are also tightening up what they keep for their internal systems and not releasing it to II until much later than in the past.  These dumps were never one to one member deposits.  Add to all that, the fees have been climbing.  There are those who just don't exchange any more because of the fees.  Trading like for like with the addition of almost $200 seems high and not worth it.  Really without an uptrade the fees for most of the exchange companies are too high.  And for every uptrade there either has to be someone paying those fees and doing a down trade or there has to be inventory that comes from developers that aren't taking out other inventory in return.


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## DeniseM (Oct 21, 2014)

> owned a timeshare for 20 years



A property that is 20 years old is unlikely to have the trading power it once had, or to be able to compete with the new luxury resorts.


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## Quadmaniac (Oct 21, 2014)

sosoangry said:


> I suspect that II has signed on many more members than they have available rooms, thus making demand far outstrip supply -- all the while making excessive $$$ in added member fees.



To get an exchange, you have to deposit - so one in to get one out. If you have a million members who deposit one each, there is a million available to take out. 

More often than not, people are depositing and not using it till later and some do not even end up using their deposit to exchange and it goes unused expiring. This also happens with people "using their home resort" where they miss out on using it that year creating excess weeks sometimes.


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## gmarine (Oct 21, 2014)

If you post what you own and what you are trying to exchange for it will be easier to give you an idea of what the problem may be.


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## SunLover2 (Oct 22, 2014)

I have to say I agree with sosoangry. I'm pretty sick of II myself. Have three deposited weeks and have very poor ability to get what I want when I want.
Will ultimately just use the weeks and go someplace just to use them up.
Thankfully, I sold our two timeshares this year and I am closer to being out of the trading business. It just isn't for me.
One thing TUG has shown me - I can rent just about anywhere, anytime I want. I like that option better.


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## Saintsfanfl (Oct 22, 2014)

SunLover2 said:


> I have to say I agree with sosoangry. I'm pretty sick of II myself. Have three deposited weeks and have very poor ability to get what I want when I want.
> Will ultimately just use the weeks and go someplace just to use them up.
> Thankfully, I sold our two timeshares this year and I am closer to being out of the trading business. It just isn't for me.
> One thing TUG has shown me - I can rent just about anywhere, anytime I want. I like that option better.



You have to place a request for the more desirable exchanges. This is a must. For every high demand unit that may come available there are probable 50-100 dog or shoulder weeks. The good weeks or filled through the request queue and are not going to be available through browsing except for the lucky cancellation here and there which is usually short notice.

Some up-trades are impossible to overcome if the trading power difference is too large. Everyone wants to trade up and obviously nobody wants to trade down.


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## Egret1986 (Oct 22, 2014)

*If it isn't working for you, don't get sosoangry.  Do something different.*

Getting angry isn't going to change II/RCI Policy.  You've got a choice; do things differently if II is no longer working for you.  Many folks on TUG have walked away from the exchange companies or use the independents.  I've been exchanging since 1984.  I still make it work for me, but it's not as easy as it used to be and you have to really "work it."  What may have worked previously, probably doesn't work now.  That's the way of the world; change.



SunLover2 said:


> One thing TUG has shown me - I can rent just about anywhere, anytime I want. I like that option better.



Congratulations on taking the steps to do something differently that makes for a better option for your vacations.



Saintsfanfl said:


> Everyone wants to trade up and obviously nobody wants to trade down.



Yep.   I've never heard of anyone complaining about the inability to trade down.


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## Saintsfanfl (Oct 23, 2014)

Egret1986 said:


> Yep.   I've never heard of anyone complaining about the inability to trade down.



It's somewhat similar to a zero based system like commodities but with an added twist of little bit of ponzi. It's easier to think of it has zero based, which is everyone puts a week in and takes a week out, but the timing of supply and demand can push it out of balance. During the recession you had way too many deposits and probably unused weeks where right now it's more the opposite.


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## sosoangry (Oct 31, 2014)

Egret1986 said:


> Getting angry isn't going to change II/RCI Policy.  You've got a choice; do things differently if II is no longer working for you.  Many folks on TUG have walked away from the exchange companies or use the independents.  I've been exchanging since 1984.  I still make it work for me, but it's not as easy as it used to be and you have to really "work it."  What may have worked previously, probably doesn't work now.  That's the way of the world; change.



Thanks for all the replies to my post. I hear about using something other than II or RCI as exchanges, the "independents" -- I'm unfamiliar with the alternatives to II or RCI. I'd love to learn about a better way(s) than being stuck with II. Btw, my week is a "gold plated" week, meaning I should (and have in the past) not have a problem re exchanging, and yet in last few years it seems I need a super-platinum week!


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## Saintsfanfl (Oct 31, 2014)

sosoangry said:


> Thanks for all the replies to my post. I hear about using something other than II or RCI as exchanges, the "independents" -- I'm unfamiliar with the alternatives to II or RCI. I'd love to learn about a better way(s) than being stuck with II. Btw, my week is a "gold plated" week, meaning I should (and have in the past) not have a problem re exchanging, and yet in last few years it seems I need a super-platinum week!



I use II regularly but I have never heard of "gold plated" weeks or "platinum" within II.  In II resorts are grouped by "select", "premier", or no label. Whatever a specific resort or system labels their week as means zilch in II. Even "premier" resorts are by no means all created equal as far as trading power goes.

Trading power and availability changes all the time. Everyone wants a "good" exchange but in a zero based system for every person that receives something "good" there is someone that must receive something "not so good".


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## chalee94 (Oct 31, 2014)

sosoangry said:


> Thanks for all the replies to my post. I hear about using something other than II or RCI as exchanges, the "independents" -- I'm unfamiliar with the alternatives to II or RCI. I'd love to learn about a better way(s) than being stuck with II. Btw, my week is a "gold plated" week, meaning I should (and have in the past) not have a problem re exchanging, and yet in last few years it seems I need a super-platinum week!



people with valuable weeks (say, like summer in hilton head, south carolina) will never put their weeks into II.  they will either use their week themselves or else rent their week for cash.

so if you are counting on exchanging your week for theirs, it's not going to happen.  II never even gets the inventory to allow anyone to exchange for it.

what kinds of trades have you been looking for?


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## Saintsfanfl (Oct 31, 2014)

chalee94 said:


> people with valuable weeks (say, like summer in hilton head, south carolina) will never put their weeks into II.  they will either use their week themselves or else rent their week for cash.
> 
> so if you are counting on exchanging your week for theirs, it's not going to happen.  II never even gets the inventory to allow anyone to exchange for it.
> 
> what kinds of trades have you been looking for?



Don't say "never". There are definitely summer HHI weeks that go into II, just not very many. You can get one but realistically you would need a unit at the top of the priority queue.


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## DeniseM (Oct 31, 2014)

sosoangry said:


> Thanks for all the replies to my post. I hear about using something other than II or RCI as exchanges, the "independents" -- I'm unfamiliar with the alternatives to II or RCI. I'd love to learn about a better way(s) than being stuck with II. Btw, my week is a "gold plated" week, meaning I should (and have in the past) not have a problem re exchanging, and yet in last few years it seems I need a super-platinum week!



If you aren't willing to tell us what you own, how are we supposed to help you?


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## Saintsfanfl (Oct 31, 2014)

DeniseM said:


> If you aren't willing to tell us what you own, how are we suppose to help you?



With it being "gold plated" I am thinking it might be one of the Gold Key Resort properties in Virginia Beach. They have been around 25 years.


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## chalee94 (Oct 31, 2014)

Saintsfanfl said:


> Don't say "never". There are definitely summer HHI weeks that go into II, just not very many. You can get one but realistically you would need a unit at the top of the priority queue.



well, yeah.

but i suppose we'd need to add that you'd almost certainly need a marriott to grab one of the handful of summer weeks at a HHI marriott.

the marriott and starwood preference can make those trades even tougher for owners of nonbranded timeshares...


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## Saintsfanfl (Oct 31, 2014)

chalee94 said:


> well, yeah.
> 
> but i suppose we'd need to add that you'd almost certainly need a marriott to grab one of the handful of summer weeks at a HHI marriott.
> 
> the marriott and starwood preference can make those trades even tougher for owners of nonbranded timeshares...



Definitely. Not just any Marriott either. It better be a 3BR or a prime 2BR. The exception is being driving distance and having a later notice OGS running to snag last minute cancellations. Those won't need nearly as much trading power and probably won't even be under preference. It helps to be flexible.


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## jasenj1 (Oct 31, 2014)

*Points?*

Is this a case where points start to come into play?

The recent points sales pitch I was given said traditional weeks exchange programs start with zero inventory and rely on people depositing to make exchanging work. A points system starts with full inventory and it goes down as people use points to reserve weeks.

It made sense to me.

With many resorts switching to points based systems, are the weeks hold outs starting to really see trading problems?


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## Saintsfanfl (Oct 31, 2014)

jasenj1 said:


> Is this a case where points start to come into play?
> 
> The recent points sales pitch I was given said traditional weeks exchange programs start with zero inventory and rely on people depositing to make exchanging work. A points system starts with full inventory and it goes down as people use points to reserve weeks.
> 
> ...



What was described to you is simply an internal floating based reservation system. It makes no difference if it is a traditional week that floats or points but points make it much easier to cross to other system resorts.

Point based reservation system inventory is still being deposited into exchange companies. You make a week reservation with points, then you deposit into II. Nothing has changed. 

If they were instead pitching a points exchange system, like II's, then like most presentations you were given fabricated info. An exchange system is an exchange system and whether it's points or weeks what comes out must have been put in. You cannot start a points exchange system with full inventory. The whole meaning of "exchange" is to give something up in exchange for something else. Points are just a form of conversion currency. There are still real underlying reservation weeks that were deposited and taken back out.


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## tschwa2 (Oct 31, 2014)

I wouldn't think so because the one thing that is the case with RCI points is that I know most of the resorts will become available at 10 months as the resorts are auto-deposited a year in advance with the 12-10 month available only to the ts home resort or resort group.  Most points owners like most other ts owners aren't great at planning 10 months prior so the pickings for those that are, are plentiful and fairly easy.  Interval doesn't seem to segregate the inventory. But I don't own points so I can't say that for sure.  This is one reason I wish II published the points list and the timeframe when the units are deposited to know which resorts and when to expect them.

When resorts like Marriott that didn't have an internal exchange system in the past but now does and keeps developer owned inventory for prime locations within the internal system instead of dumping those weeks in interval 10 months prior does cause problems. There are less of those prime type deposits being chased by just as many people and with the fees going up the expectation  that the exchanges will be at least as good if not better to justify the higher costs.


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## nstotland (Nov 6, 2014)

*Great Trades with Interval*

My system is to deposit our lock-off at Ocean Pointe then keep surfing the II website throughout the day. I am always on-line so it's an easy task. I have successfully traded that cramped lock-off for two bedrooms in Aruba, the week before Christmas ( twice) Fairway Villas in New Jersey, early June, Marriott's Surf Watch in Hilton Head  2 brm in May. And a real good one last summer Club Intrawest one bedroom Mont Tremblant, last week in July (high demand).

Coupled with various Accommodation Certificates Interval has done wonders for us.  You have to be pro-active, don't depend on them.


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## Marathoner (Nov 6, 2014)

sosoangry said:


> We have owned a timeshare for 20 years and been members of II in that time. For first several years, we had no problem exchanging our top-week timeshare with II. However, more recently over the last few years, we have found it near impossible to successfully get a match for our exchange requests. We put in multiple dates and multiple resorts and still no luck. We call and have heated words with II, and yet they're seemingly trained to deflect angry member "feedback". I suspect that II has signed on many more members than they have available rooms, thus making demand far outstrip supply -- all the while making excessive $$$ in added member fees. I have no evidence of this but I wish the proper authority(s) investigated. This is outrageous.



sosoangry,

Why don't you share with us where you own your timeshare and what you've recently looked for that haven't been attainable.  It requires effort, but I have been able to get New Years ski weeks as well as July 4 Hilton Head weeks.  But it all depends on a number of factors including the amount of effort and planning that you put in.  So, can you share so that we can advise you better?


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## JSparling (Nov 6, 2014)

I'm new to Interval as we just bought with Starwood. From what you said it sounds like their system updates all the time and if you are looking for something specific you should be on the website all the time clicking "refresh"? Is my understanding right that until I deposit a week with them I really can't do much?


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## DeniseM (Nov 6, 2014)

JSparling said:


> I'm new to Interval as we just bought with Starwood. From what you said it sounds like their system updates all the time and if you are looking for something specific you should be on the website all the time clicking "refresh"? Is my understanding right that until I deposit a week with them I really can't do much?



Actually, the best practice is to put in an "ongoing search" - it's like wait listing.  Ongoing searches are filled before any inventory shows up online - the online inventory is the "leftovers."


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## jackio (Nov 7, 2014)

DeniseM said:


> Actually, the best practice is to put in an "ongoing search" - it's like wait listing.  Ongoing searches are filled before any inventory shows up online - the online inventory is the "leftovers."



I don't have much faith in II OGS. I put one in and my exact match turned up online so I called and the rep said my OGS wasn't in there. Then she put it in herself. I could see it in there.  A week later the same unit showed up online again. I was able to book it so it wasn't a trading power issue. Next time I will check every day even if I have an OGS in.


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## Saintsfanfl (Nov 7, 2014)

jackio said:


> I don't have much faith in II OGS. I put one in and my exact match turned up online so I called and the rep said my OGS wasn't in there. Then she put it in herself. I could see it in there.  A week later the same unit showed up online again. I was able to book it so it wasn't a trading power issue. Next time I will check every day even if I have an OGS in.



The OGS system does have issues, but it's not like it cost extra to put one in. Matches generally occur in the very early morning hours. The best exchanges far out from check-in are always going to be through an OGS.


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## sosoangry (Nov 7, 2014)

Marathoner said:


> sosoangry,
> 
> Why don't you share with us where you own your timeshare and what you've recently looked for that haven't been attainable.  It requires effort, but I have been able to get New Years ski weeks as well as July 4 Hilton Head weeks.  But it all depends on a number of factors including the amount of effort and planning that you put in.  So, can you share so that we can advise you better?



I own a week at Marriott Cypress Harbour in Orlando, FLA


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## Saintsfanfl (Nov 7, 2014)

sosoangry said:


> I own a week at Marriott Cypress Harbour in Orlando, FLA



For whatever reason Cypress Harbour is probably the most plentiful Orlando Marriott in II. There are loads of excess weeks even during high demand times. That does not always correlate to trading power though and I am pretty sure any 2BR Cypress Harbour will pull quite a bit. I still think your issue is more with the general supply and demand situation in II.


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## Marathoner (Nov 7, 2014)

I agree that Cypress Harbour should still see and be able to exchange into alot of very nice resorts.  

Can you describe what property you are looking for in exchange?  I think that you can get most properties that you want.  However, you need to work for it.  What are you seeking and how much effort are you putting in now?


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## sosoangry (Nov 12, 2014)

Marathoner said:


> I agree that Cypress Harbour should still see and be able to exchange into alot of very nice resorts.
> 
> Can you describe what property you are looking for in exchange?  I think that you can get most properties that you want.  However, you need to work for it.  What are you seeking and how much effort are you putting in now?



I'm not sure what you mean by "you need to work for it" and how much "effort" am I putting in -- huh??? I have placed requests (many weeks ago) for these:

Sugarloaf Resort, Carrabassett Valley, ME
Sunday River Grand Summit, Newry, ME
Sunday River Jordan Grand, Newry, ME
The Villas at Trapp Family Lodge, Stowe, VT

Nothing. How do I "work for it" to get something to happen? I've already called II and complained.


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## DeniseM (Nov 12, 2014)

What he means, is did you:  1) put in an Ongoing Search 12 mos. or more before check-in, 2) for a broad range of dates and 2) resorts?

Requesting only one week, or only one resort, or not requesting 12+ months out, has much less chance of success.

Are you aware of the Marriott to Marriott priority in II?  Marriott owners have first dibs on Marriott deposits - that is valuable.


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## gmarine (Nov 12, 2014)

What week are you looking for ?  A holiday week would be very difficult to get even if the request was placed a year ago.


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## tschwa2 (Nov 12, 2014)

sosoangry said:


> I'm not sure what you mean by "you need to work for it" and how much "effort" am I putting in -- huh??? I have placed requests (many weeks ago) for these:
> 
> Sugarloaf Resort, Carrabassett Valley, ME
> Sunday River Grand Summit, Newry, ME
> ...



Are you looking for Summer or winter?  None of the resorts you listed bulk bank in II so you are looking for individual owner deposits.  The Sunday River properties also trade in RCI and probably do bulk bank there because right now there are over 200 units available over the next 2 years between the 2 resorts.

Sugar Loaf also uses RCI.  I don't know how many deposits go to II.  RCI currently has 48 weeks available.  

Trapp Family Lodges get very few in season deposits and has way more demand than supply.  If you made your request a few weeks ago there might be quite a few people ahead of you to get the few deposits that are made.  If you want spring or fall your chances are good but you will have to sit tight until those deposits are made.


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## seema (Dec 1, 2014)

sosoangry said:


> I own a week at Marriott Cypress Harbour in Orlando, FLA



Which week of the year? If you own a January (post-holiday season) or September (post Labour/Labor Day) week, then your week (even if it is a Marriott) will have relatively low trading power, compared to if you week involved the Xmas/New Year holiday season (for example).


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