# Club Intrawest & II



## Bill4728 (May 7, 2007)

Here is a question for true CI experts. 

When you use II, can you reserve a 2 bd and lock-it off?  Therefore, netting a studio and 1 bd for the price of a 2 bd.  I know whistler has several lock off units but I don't know if CI or II will let you do it.

I was thinking about this because CI is currently offering II red weeks at Tremblant at the lowest pt price of the year.  I thought I reserve a 2 bd, see what it will get me, see what a 1 bd will get me and if I need to use the 2 bd I have it, if I need a 1 bd, I get 2 deposits for the price of 1 1/2.


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## tashamen (May 8, 2007)

You can always ask, but I don't think this is possible.  Generally for those resorts that allow lock-offs to be deposited there is a designation in the II directory that says "lock-off," and the CI resorts don't have that designation.

I'm depositing one of those Tremblant 2BR units for the first time myself, since I want to request a 2BR unit at a specific time and location, and don't want to rely on being able to get it with a 1BR.  The CI points needed are cheaper compared to the 2BR Whistler deposit I was considering making next month instead, and this week will likely trade as well if not better.  I also just used my last AC so wanted to get another one to use for this fall.

You can play around online to see what the 1BR will pull vs. the 2BR - there isn't all that much difference but there is some - so depending on what you want and when it may be worth it.


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## tashamen (May 9, 2007)

Another thing I realized, Bill, is that you would need to decide at the time of deposit whether you wanted to deposit the full 2BR or a 1BR and studio (if they even allowed it).  In other words you couldn't deposit a 2BR and then later decide to lock it off if you only needed a 1BR to pull something.


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## Bill4728 (May 9, 2007)

What I was thinking was to reserve a 2 bd, then do searches with it, the 1 bd side and the studio side. If I found something which needed the whole 2 bd, then I'd deposit the 2 bd but if I found my exchange using only the 1 bd I'd deposit only the 1 bd and still have the studio. But I'll just have to reserve what I need after finding the exchanges with "fake" weeks.


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## tashamen (May 9, 2007)

Yes, that's a good strategy if you can be reasonably sure that what you want will show up online.  But for those units that may never show up online because they're snapped up by ongoing requests, or show up too late to make reasonable travel arrangements depositing makes sense.

This is my first 2BR deposit and I do kind of feel as though I might have "wasted" a few CI points as I probably could get what I want with a 1BR, but we're traveling with friends who have less tolerance for the waiting game and so I wanted to make sure I can request a 2BR.  

I haven't received the AC online yet - it will be interesting to see if that's any stronger than the ones I've gotten previously for 1BR deposits.  Of course this is also my first Tremblant deposit, so I'm not sure how I can compare it with my former Whistler ACs.


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## smbrannan (May 10, 2007)

I've been a CI member for years but have let my Extraordinary Escapes membership lapse because it seemed like a rip-off.  (I could usually do better on Expedia after all the fees for booking an exchange were accounted for).

I am intrigued by the idea of using II because I've got a number of CI points expiring next April that I haven't used yet.  Maybe I should try to exchange them for something in II.

Can someone explain, in simple language how this works?  

I.e. do you make a reservation at a CI location, and then make that available on the II system?  

Do you need to book a certain number of nights at the CI location, and does it have to start on a particular day?  

How does CI know that someone else is going to show up for the reservation that I made?

What fees does II charge for this service?

Anything else I should know?

Any help appreciated.


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## Bill4728 (May 10, 2007)

Can someone explain, in simple language how this works? 

I.e. do you make a reservation at a CI location, and then make that available on the II system? Yes

Do you need to book a certain number of nights at the CI location, and does it have to start on a particular day?  You must book a full 7 days and the reservation must start on a Sunday at one of the three CI resorts which are in II. (Whistler, PD, Tremblant)

How does CI know that someone else is going to show up for the reservation that I made?  II will notify them that you have deposited your week into II

What fees does II charge for this service? Just the regular II fees

Anything else I should know? 


			
				TUG Club Intrawest advice article said:
			
		

> Club Intrawest also has an association with Interval International. You can reserve a Sunday week at three of their locations ( Whistler, Palm Desert and Tremblant) and deposit it into II. There are difficulties with this though. CI no longer allows it members access to the corporate CI – II memberships. So you must have an II membership independent of your CI membership. And CI isn’t happy about working with II. But will if you push them.


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## Bill4728 (May 10, 2007)

This is a copy of the new CI advice article. 


> The information in this article is correct to the best of my knowledge. I am not an employee of Club Intrawest or Intrawest Corp, just an owner of points. I have not been paid for this article. The purpose is to enhance your knowledge of Club Intrawest. Much of this information is taken from www.Clubintrawest.com
> By Bill Bunker
> Undated May 8th, 2007
> 
> ...


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## tashamen (May 11, 2007)

Bill - I think you meant to post the last two items on the Comparing systems thread - can you move them as a moderator?

To smbrannan - Bill has explained how the II deposit process works, but I thought I'd ask a couple of things.  First of all I'm not sure there ever was a corporate membership for CI owners with II - at least with us it was always an individual membership.  I got mine when we first bought CI points in 2001, and have retained it since.  We also belonged to the Extraordinary escapes for a few years and used it for satisfying exchanges, but gave it up because:

In II I can search online before depositing with any size unit and any week of the year for the 3 CI resorts affiliated with II and see in general what's available and which week I may need to deposit.  (Kauai is the fourth until April 2008).

I can do a request first if I want - never have, but it's a nice option.

I always get an AC for every deposit, and have been very happy with them and always used them. 

Often we get larger units than the one we deposited - sometimes searching online, but also with ongoing requests.  (Note that you can't request a larger unit than you deposit though).

The number of CI points that I have used for each exchange that I've made with II has been less - and in some cases substantially less - than the amount of points needed for a similar size and season exchange in RCI through EE.  That, plus the ACs, really stretch our CI points.

The availability of DVC properties, if that's important to you, is better through II than through EE, because with EE there have to be reciprocal exchanges of DVC owners wanting to go into CI properties.  (However the II exchanges are for weeks only, not less than whole weeks).

Just the fact that I can control my own destiny and not have to wonder if CI is really on the ball.  The last exchange we made through RCI, using EE was a request for Barbados and they kept calling us to offer resorts in Aruba!

Finally, personally I don't know that I'd agree with Bill that CI isn't "happy" about working with II.  That probably stems from his experience of trying (and finally succeeding) in getting CI added to his individual II membership.  That part may be a hassle for you - luckily that was how we started with II and so didn't have to deal with it later.  

I have had no problems using II for CI.  In fact I just made a deposit this week - all electronically - I requested a week from CI through their website, the next day got the reservation number and deposited the week online into II.  Two days later my AC showed up online.  And in case it's not clear - there are no fees from II for depositing - only when you exchange.


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## Bill4728 (May 11, 2007)

When I bought CI, I asked II to add CI to my II account. They said until I had a deposit to make with a CI week, they wouldn't add the resorts. Once I had a deposit to make, II had to make a "fake" deposit of the CI week and II then took about 1-2 months to add CI to my II account. II said this was because CI memberships used to be corporate memberships. They implied that the only way to have CI - II account was to add it to an independent account. This may be wrong but since I had an independent account, I not sure.  

I agree with Tashamen that the exchanges I get with my II-CI account far exceed what my experience was the EE. Although, we used EE to do a HGVC trade and was very pleased.


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## smbrannan (May 11, 2007)

2 more questions that are probably painfully obvious to others...

1.  How do you become an II member.  I looked all over their website ( htttp://intervalworld.com ) and for the life of me I can't see a "Join" button.

2.  When you say you need to deposit 7 day reservations starting on Sunday, does that mean Sunday night to Friday night, inclusive (7 days/6 nights) or Sunday night to Saturday night (8 days/7nights)?

S


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## tashamen (May 14, 2007)

1.  At the very top right corner on intervalworld.com, there is a button to click on that says "Enroll."  However, as Bill noted, if you're thinking about joining with Club Intrawest as your resort you may not be able to do this online.  

2. You have to deposit a 7-night week starting on Sunday, so Sunday night through Saturday night, inclusive.


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## Bill4728 (May 14, 2007)

A 7 day deposit means check-in Sunday night to check-out Sunday morning.


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## JudyS (May 15, 2007)

> Most offers I’ve seen for resell of Club Intrawest points are at about $85 -$90 / point..


And it takes 100 points for an off-season one-bedroom?  Ouch!  That's about $9000 to buy enough points for a blue one bedroom!  That's almost as much as my DVC points cost!


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## tashamen (May 15, 2007)

JudyS said:


> And it takes 100 points for an off-season one-bedroom?  Ouch!  That's about $9000 to buy enough points for a blue one bedroom!  That's almost as much as my DVC points cost!



Well, it depends on how you define "off-season" and at which CI resort.  For example, for the lowest season at Whistler you only need 57 points for a 1BR week, and 48 points at Tremblant.  CI has 5 seasons and 9 resorts (soon to be 8) so the above chart averages are pretty meaningless.


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## JudyS (May 15, 2007)

tashamen said:


> Well, it depends on how you define "off-season" and at which CI resort.  For example, for the lowest season at Whistler you only need 57 points for a 1BR week, and 48 points at Tremblant.  CI has 5 seasons and 9 resorts (soon to be 8) so the above chart averages are pretty meaningless.


Ok, thanks for the clarification!

Still, this is a pricey system to buy into resale.  Does CI have a FOFR clause?  Is that why the prices are high?  Or, is it just the quality of the resorts?   How high are the annual fees?

Also, why is CI losing a resort (going from 9 to 8)?

I was also confused about the fact that CI only allows transfer of resale memberships that are over 120 points.  Suppose you own less than 120 points, and want to sell.  Does this mean you can't sell your points?  Or, do all owners own at least 120 points?


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## Bill4728 (May 15, 2007)

JudyS said:


> Ok, thanks for the clarification!
> 
> Still, this is a pricey system to buy into resale.  Does CI have a FOFR clause?  Is that why the prices are high?  Or, is it just the quality of the resorts?


 I believe it is the quality of the resorts. But as a member I'm likely to think that, Right?



> Also, why is CI losing a resort (going from 9 to 8)?


CI had only 10 units in the PAHIO resort in Princeville, HI. CI sold to Wyndham when wyndham bought the resort from Pahio. 



> I was also confused about the fact that CI only allows transfer of resale memberships that are over 120 points.  Suppose you own less than 120 points, and want to sell.  Does this mean you can't sell your points?  Or, do all owners own at least 120 points?


Yes, the smallest number of points you can own is 120 pts. So, if you owned 150 pts, you must sell the entire membership. Only owners of >240 pts can sell a partial membership.


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## tashamen (May 16, 2007)

JudyS said:


> How high are the annual fees?



I believe they were $5.45 (US) per point for 2007.  The increase over 2006 was not very large percentage-wise, but I'd have to look it up.


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