I would not have high expectations about the trading power simply because there is very little evidence of that. Interval is a strange animal in my experience and what seems to be logical does not have to translate into their practice; the people you interact with are very far from the decision chain so they cannot help much if at all. Do not forget that many of the nicest resorts have priority (Vistana and Marriott) and those owners have the first crack at everything.
I would not enroll the week based on the expectation to get a Westin or a Marriott in Hawaii in prime whale watching season, those exchanges may or may not come. Yet I still believe that you would like Interval and you would find the resorts much better than those in RCI. Your downside is also limited, if things do not turn out the way you expect you just do not renew after one year.
I agree. There will be more competition during high demand travel periods so availability will be limited. I won’t expect high demand time periods but anything is
possible.
Take a look at posts on the TUG Sightings Forum. It will give you an idea of what becomes available (pay close attention to the date ranges, unit sizes, resorts and how far in advance from checkin).
With high demand areas such as Hawaii, the key is to have flexibility with dates, sizes of unit and resorts. You’ll definitely want to setup an ongoing request.
- Marriott’s in Oahu and Kaui are sighted more often than the Marriott on Maui.
- The Westin in Kauai is sighted more often
than the Westin in Maui
- The Westin resorts on Maui are sighted more
than the Marriott resorts on Maui.
- Also, during higher demand travel periods, the larger units are generally booked within II’s priority preference booking period (which allows owners to book within their family of resorts weeks before it becomes available to the general public).
I would think your summer three bedroom would do very well with Interval International. II seems to assign trading power based on the combination of unit size, travel demand period and location. However some destinations are simply harder to book than others.
