# Hyatt Question Re Mechanics of II Exchange



## heathpack (Jun 11, 2010)

We are trying to plan travel for next Jan-Apr and were considering Hawaii or the Yucatan.  Was on the phone with II for another reason.  Asked about Hawaii/Yucatan and was told nothing avail now.  I asked to set up an exchange request and was told I needed to pay my 2011 MF first.  This did not make sense to me, as I did not want to actually make a deposit, just set up a request.  II agent became huffy and defensive and could no longer really effectively communicate with me, so we finished that call.

Called Hyatt directly and was told the same thing.  Again, this does not make sense to me, unless you must deposit points with II to even set up an exchange request.  Hyatt agent said, "no you are not depositing points with II, but yes you do need to pay 2011 MF now because you would be using 2011 points for the exchange."

OK, so maybe I am slow- I can understand needing to pay the MF before confirming an exchange but not so much when placing a request.  

Can one of you experienced Hyatt folks can tell me mechanistically how exactly the II request first option works.  Can I set up an exchange request without depositing points into II?  I don't care if Hyatt has a rule that I have to pay MF in advance- I just don't to inadvertantly deposit the points with II unless I know an exchange is available.

Thanks in advance.

H


----------



## Beaglemom3 (Jun 11, 2010)

Heathpack,

  I, too, have experienced the same scenario (my Hyatt guide was nice, though) and unfortunately, have no advice, in fact, it got worse for me, so my response is to add another wrinkle.

Like you, I was told that my MFs had to be paid for the next year, so I called HVC to pay my next year's dues and they said that they hadn't been announced, so I could not pay them.  

I ended up losing a great trade.

I love Hyatt (own at HHdM) and it's a good system, but this is a major flaw as far as I can see.

Sorry that I cannot answer the question you specifically posed, but there are some very good Hyatt experts here.

  B.


----------



## optimist (Jun 11, 2010)

You cannot do an exchange (either a request or an immediate one that you see yourself) without having the points in your Interval account. You cannot have the points in your Interval account unless you have transferred them from your Hyatt account (thereby losing the ability to make trades with Hyatt). If you DO NOT have the points to transfer, then you must borrow and if you borrow, you must pay the maintenance fee to borrow. 
I don't know why they told Beaglemom that she could not pay the maintenance fee before they were announced. I did just that this year. They based it on last year's fees and told me I would have to pay the difference if it went up.
I borrowed 870 points from 2011 (I paid the estimated 2011 maintenance), they transferred that to my Interval account, then the put in the request for my exchange.
I ended up not getting the exchange in time so I cancelled the request. Now the points are in my Interval account and cannot be returned to my Hyatt account. But the advantage is that I have TWO years to use them whereas in the Hyatt account, they expire after a year.

If you want to go to Hawaii, I would go ahead and transfer the points into Interval (it's not as though Hyatt can give you that option). That way, as soon as something pops up, no matter the time of day or night, you will have the points in your account and will be able to grab it.  I have seen tons of Hawaii trades. You have to check often.


----------



## DeniseM (Jun 11, 2010)

You should put in an ongoing request with II.   The online inventory is only  what's leftover after all ongoing request have been filled.  It's late in the year to start looking for an exchange for Jan. - April. Ideally, you want to have your request in place at 12 mos. or earlier, so it's already there and waiting when the deposits start coming in.


----------



## Beaglemom3 (Jun 11, 2010)

optimist said:


> I don't know why they told Beaglemom that she could not pay the maintenance fee before they were announced. I did just that this year. They based it on last year's fees and told me I would have to pay the difference if it went up.
> .



Forgot to mention that I offered to do this (pay last year's MF and either wait for an over payment or underpayment when the bill came out)but still got a "no". 

Wonder now if it was because of my resort (special assessment), if the guide was wrong or if the rules have changed as this was a couple-few years ago.


----------



## Kal (Jun 11, 2010)

I suggest you call Hyatt Member Services in St. Petersburg, FL.  Don't go thru Hyatt's Interval desk.  When will you receive the points that will be used to fund the exchange?


----------



## heathpack (Jun 11, 2010)

Kal said:


> I suggest you call Hyatt Member Services in St. Petersburg, FL.  Don't go thru Hyatt's Interval desk.  When will you receive the points that will be used to fund the exchange?



I called both II and 1-800-GOHYATT.  Is there some other number to call?

I received the points that I would like to exchange about a week ago.  If I recall, I paid 2010 MF around Nov 2009.   

The 2011 points have been moved into CU because I have a week booked at Coconut Plantation for next Easter.

H


----------



## heathpack (Jun 11, 2010)

optimist said:


> You cannot do an exchange (either a request or an immediate one that you see yourself) without having the points in your Interval account. You cannot have the points in your Interval account unless you have transferred them from your Hyatt account (thereby losing the ability to make trades with Hyatt).



Thanks.  This is the info that I needed to know.  However, I think it stinks.

It is also interesting to read how you handled the borrowing situation.  I was under the understanding that if you borrowed from a future year that you had to borrow the entire year's points and that you could only use them to make reservations 60 days out.  Maybe that is just for using them within HVC?  Its funny because I am a DVC member as well and my theory is that one should always be in points debt.  That way you never have to worry about any points expiring.

H


----------



## heathpack (Jun 11, 2010)

DeniseM said:


> You should put in an ongoing request with II.   The online inventory is only  what's leftover after all ongoing request have been filled.  It's late in the year to start looking for an exchange for Jan. - April. Ideally, you want to have your request in place at 12 mos. or earlier, so it's already there and waiting when the deposits start coming in.



Thanks Denise.  We totally get the concept that the visible II inventory is the leftovers.  We are just not sure that we'd rather go to Hawaii/Yucatan _over_ staying at a Hyatt.  Our idea was to set up waitlists for both II exchanges and Hyatt internal exchanges.  But now if we have to pick one or the other, we're not totally sure what we'll do.  We really don't want to give up our Hyatt points and then not get an acceptable exchange through II.

We just got our new set of Hyatt points and had nothing left over last year, so this is the earliest we could possibly get things going with II.

Hmmm. 

H


----------



## heathpack (Jun 11, 2010)

Well, I just saw a Royal Haciendas week on II for next April.  The II website let us go through the whole booking process and sent us an email confirming the reservation "pending verification with our home resort."

I'll call Hyatt tomorrow and get the scoop on the "pending verification" part.  Maybe that's the point at which we will be asked to pay our 2011 MF.  Which will be no big deal if we know we have the exchange.

This might work out really well for us.  We have a Hyatt Coconut Plantation reservation for the week immediately following.  So  maybe we will be able to swing a week in Playa del Carmen and a week in Naples for a nice two-week trip.

Fingers crossed.

H


----------



## Beaglemom3 (Jun 11, 2010)

heathpack said:


> Well, I just saw a Royal Haciendas week on II for next April.  The II website let us go through the whole booking process and sent us an email confirming the reservation "pending verification with our home resort."
> 
> I'll call Hyatt tomorrow and get the scoop on the "pending verification" part.  Maybe that's the point at which we will be asked to pay our 2011 MF.  Which will be no big deal if we know we have the exchange.
> 
> ...



I hope this works. PM me if you run into trouble. I have some points that I haven't used as of yet.
I'll be at the Coconut Point Hotel, not the Plantation T/S, during Thanksgiving.
If you haven't been to the Plantation, you're in for a real treat !


----------



## heathpack (Jun 12, 2010)

Beaglemom3 said:


> I hope this works. PM me if you run into trouble. I have some points that I haven't used as of yet.
> I'll be at the Coconut Point Hotel, not the Plantation T/S, during Thanksgiving.
> If you haven't been to the Plantation, you're in for a real treat !



Why thank you Beaglemom3!  But it sounds like things are good.

Called Hyatt this am and they confirmed that I did indeed need to pay my 2011 MF in advance, because I am using 2011 points for the exchange.  We did that over the phone.

Hyatt Rep said that if you ever do an II online exchange, it will always say "pending resort verification."  During the next avail business hours, II and HVC will communicate, ensure you have enough points for the exchange and figure out if you need to pay MF.  Once that is all straightened out and MF paid if necessary, your exchange will be finalized.  But in the meantime, the exchange is yours unless something falls through on your end.

Rep did also confirm what Optimist said.  If you want to do a request first exchange with II, your points will be pulled out of HVC and placed into II and of course there is no going back to Hyatt from there.  So if you do not get your desired exchange, you will just have to look for something else in II.  You do get two years in II, though.

We've never been to Coconut Plantation and agree it sounds great.  I traded a CP reservation for a week at Disney's Animal Kingdom Lodge and my guest arrives at CP next week.  Can't wait to hear what they think!

H


----------



## Beaglemom3 (Jun 14, 2010)

Heathpack,
  Forgot to mention that there is a site (no cost to join) for Hyatt owners here:

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/HyattVacationClub/ 

It is an independent group without official ties to HVC itself. Lots of info, the occasional trade and selling of points. Hope to see you there.



B.


----------



## RedDogSD (Jun 14, 2010)

Well, I know nothing about Hyatt's system, but I do not like the fact that you have to have the Points within Interval to request the exchange.  Their request first system should work just like the weeks based systems.  I do not GIVE Interval my weeks.  I just PROMISE to give them my weeks IF they find what I want.  If they do not, I use the week myself, or deposit it with someone else.  If I am hearing correctly about Hyatt, then you have no advantage to doing "Request First" since you have to give them the points either way.


----------



## optimist (Jun 15, 2010)

RedDogSD said:


> Well, I know nothing about Hyatt's system, but I do not like the fact that you have to have the Points within Interval to request the exchange.  Their request first system should work just like the weeks based systems.  I do not GIVE Interval my weeks.  I just PROMISE to give them my weeks IF they find what I want.  If they do not, I use the week myself, or deposit it with someone else.  If I am hearing correctly about Hyatt, then you have no advantage to doing "Request First" since you have to give them the points either way.




The reason it works is that Hyatt is a point system so even if you deposit some of your points in Interval to get the exchange, you will still have points left over to use within the Hyatt system. It's not as though you give up your week and have nothing left.  Interval gives Hyatt owners a very good exchange rate which is another reasons why I am happy to deposit my points. (just 870 points needed for a prime week one bedroom)

Hyatt's presence is strong on the West Coast so for me, it makes more sense to use the Hyatt system to trade.


----------



## regatta333 (Sep 13, 2011)

Are all Hyatt exchanges through II based on the fixed point grid, or are there instances where distressed, close-in inventory can be had for less, either in terms of season or size?


----------



## heathpack (Sep 13, 2011)

regatta333 said:


> Are all Hyatt exchanges through II based on the fixed point grid, or are there instances where distressed, close-in inventory can be had for less, either in terms of season or size?



No discounts for any unit, the points "prices" are fixed.

However low season units require less points than high season units, and smaller units less points than bigger units.  But there is no discounts for close-in inventory.

H


----------



## Sullco2 (Sep 14, 2011)

And that's why Hyatt still seems to me the best of all timeshare systems.  Very little room for bogus nonsense (RCI in its entirety comes to mind), and fairness prevails.


----------



## regatta333 (Sep 14, 2011)

heathpack said:


> No discounts for any unit, the points "prices" are fixed.
> 
> However low season units require less points than high season units, and smaller units less points than bigger units.  But there is no discounts for close-in inventory.
> 
> H



How can you tell what season a week falls into?  II has a demand index for each resort, but that does not really tell me what weeks are red, yellow, or green.


----------



## heathpack (Sep 14, 2011)

regatta333 said:


> How can you tell what season a week falls into?  II has a demand index for each resort, but that does not really tell me what weeks are red, yellow, or green.



It is based on TDI for the week you are interested in at the resort you are interested in.  Ie, when Hyatt defines a week as "red," it will be a range of specific TDIs and this is on the chart they provide you for II trades.  You can look the TDI up in the II directory if you need to.  There are zero surprises, it is all defined well in advance of your exchange.

H


----------



## regatta333 (Sep 14, 2011)

heathpack said:


> It is based on TDI for the week you are interested in at the resort you are interested in.  Ie, when Hyatt defines a week as "red," it will be a range of specific TDIs and this is on the chart they provide you for II trades.  You can look the TDI up in the II directory if you need to.  There are zero surprises, it is all defined well in advance of your exchange.
> 
> H



Thank you for the insights.  Very helpful.  Can you also tell me whether II ever gives ACs for Hyatt deposits?  Also, is it possible to break down your points to make deposits to the independents like DAE, SFX, PI, or can you only deposit your owned unit in its entirety?


----------



## heathpack (Sep 14, 2011)

regatta333 said:


> Thank you for the insights.  Very helpful.  Can you also tell me whether II ever gives ACs for Hyatt deposits?  Also, is it possible to break down your points to make deposits to the independents like DAE, SFX, PI, or can you only deposit your owned unit in its entirety?



Never heard of anyone getting an AC, but have only been in the Hyatt game a few years.

You must deposit a week with an independant, but you can break down your points and make a Hyatt reservation and then deposit that (ie it does not need to just be your owned week, any reservation in the system that you can legitimately make works.

H


----------

