Adventures in exchanges - need education

[AnnaO]

I think I need some education on exchange practices. We've owned two ski weeks for years and always used them ourselves, but the time has come to start exchanging one of them for some other travel. So with some difficulty I joined II last year and deposited one of our 2020 weeks. It was an ordeal because the resort is managed by VRI but with assistance of the II rep (listed helpfully in the sticky notes on this forum) we got it done. I thought I was out of the woods. But when I now tried to deposit one of my 2021 weeks, VRI said, no, I cannot deposit till my 2021 maintenance fees are paid. Those are not due till Dec 2020, and have not yet been billed. And if they were, an extra $900 is not in my budget right now. Is this a common rule? How do people deposit their weeks a year or two in advance?

 

[chellej]

It depends on the resort but I think the majority require you to prepay your maintenance fee to deposit. Out of the 4 I own, 2 you have to prepay and the other 2 you do not as long as the account is in good standing.

 

[silentg]

I have one resort that allows me to bank week in RCI maintenance fee is paid. Others require maintenance fee to be paid first. You can put your week in an ad for direct exchange on TUG Marketplace. We have done some great exchanges with other TUG members. Look into it, it works for us.

 

[Panina]

I think I need some education on exchange practices. We've owned two ski weeks for years and always used them ourselves, but the time has come to start exchanging one of them for some other travel. So with some difficulty I joined II last year and deposited one of our 2020 weeks. It was an ordeal because the resort is managed by VRI but with assistance of the II rep (listed helpfully in the sticky notes on this forum) we got it done. I thought I was out of the woods. But when I now tried to deposit one of my 2021 weeks, VRI said, no, I cannot deposit till my 2021 maintenance fees are paid. Those are not due till Dec 2020, and have not yet been billed. And if they were, an extra $900 is not in my budget right now. Is this a common rule? How do people deposit their weeks a year or two in advance?

My independent resorts require prepayment before I can trade.

 

[HudsHut]

Yes, prepayment is common. Yes, we always deposit a year in advance.

 

[rboesl]

As the others have stated, most resorts require paid weeks to be deposited. For the most part this shouldn't be a big deal. But, it does take some planning. Since you've subscribed with Interval International you can use a reasonable cost Getaway to go somewhere else this year. You were planning to use one of your weeks to go somewhere else. In this case make it a trip that's pre-planned for next year. This will set you for the coming years. You will have 1 of your home resort weeks to book. Your pre-planned trip already booked. And the other week at your home resort available for booking a trip the next year. Try to picture it this way:

2020	2021	2022
Week #1 at Home Resort	Week #1 at Home Resort	Week #1 at Home Resort
Getaway Trip	Week booked with Week #2 in 2020	Week booked with Week #2 in 2021
Week #2 deposit with II (use this to book week in 2021)	Week #2 deposit with II (use this to book week in 2022)	Week #2 deposit with II (use this to book week in 2023)

 

[AnnaO]

As the others have stated, most resorts require paid weeks to be deposited. For the most part this shouldn't be a big deal. But, it does take some planning. Since you've subscribed with Interval International you can use a reasonable cost Getaway to go somewhere else this year. You were planning to use one of your weeks to go somewhere else. In this case make it a trip that's pre-planned for next year. This will set you for the coming years. You will have 1 of your home resort weeks to book. Your pre-planned trip already booked. And the other week at your home resort available for booking a trip the next year. Try to picture it this way:

2020	2021	2022
Week #1 at Home Resort	Week #1 at Home Resort	Week #1 at Home Resort
Getaway Trip	Week booked with Week #2 in 2020	Week booked with Week #2 in 2021
Week #2 deposit with II (use this to book week in 2021)	Week #2 deposit with II (use this to book week in 2022)	Week #2 deposit with II (use this to book week in 2023)

Thanks for such a detailed and thoughtful response. While it makes sense logistically, the timing here does not work to my advantage. My winter (ski) week comes soon after the beginning of the year, so if I pay the maintenance fee in November and deposit the next year week, I have 60-90 days or so to check-in. Won't that impact my trading value?

 

[missyrcrews]

Thanks for such a detailed and thoughtful response. While it makes sense logistically, the timing here does not work to my advantage. My winter (ski) week comes soon after the beginning of the year, so if I pay the maintenance fee in November and deposit the next year week, I have 60-90 days or so to check-in. Won't that impact my trading value?

You don't pay when you're billed. You pay WAY ahead of that. Yes, if you wait until when you are billed, then your trading value will be impacted.

My resort doesn't require prepayment as long as an account is in good standing. So thankful for that!!!