Anomaly or reason we can't trade into Crystal Shores?

[jjluhman]

I manage three II accounts (three different families). One has a 3BR Silver Hilton Head week, one has Platinum Ocean Pointe 2Br, and one has Gold & Platinum Ocean Pointe 2Brs. So, I have lots to play with!

This is what happened. I had an ongoing search for Marco Island Crystal Shores for next summer with 2BRGold OP week. Found a 2Br sitting online this week (it has actually been there on and off since Sunday) that exactly matched my search using the 3Br Silver HH. Logged out and searched with a Plat OP 2Br and could not pull it. Logged back into the Silver account and put it on hold until I could get someone from II on the phone. II manually booked the week for my ongoing search in the Gold 2 Br account. They could not explain why the 2Br higher trading power weeks did not pull it.

I have tried unsuccessfully to book Crystal Shores with 2Br units in the past. Now I wonder if it will never match?!

Both the Gold and Platinum were holiday weeks, 4th of July and President's Day.

 

[BocaBoy]

I don't find this strange at all. The 3BR HHI silver (I assume SurfWatch) undoubtedly has higher trading power than the 2BR Ocean Pointe units. I think size would trump season in this case.

 

[jjluhman]

So it would just be dumped into online inventory rather than match an ongoing search? That is the part that I did not understand.

 

[frank808]

It is available for online search because your 2br Ocean Pointe units did not have enough trading power to match it. Seems like size 3br vs 2br trumps season for this exchange.
Pretty sure the long time marriott gurus would agree that in II size matters

 

[jjluhman]

It is available for online search because your 2br Ocean Pointe units did not have enough trading power to match it. Seems like size 3br vs 2br trumps season for this exchange.
Pretty sure the long time marriott gurus would agree that in II size matters

Well that is awfully disappointing. I always thought that a 2Br with the highest TDI that II assigns would pull a 2Br with lower TDI in a lower season. This certainly explains why trades into Marco Island are so difficult. If my 2Br platinum with the highest TDI possible cannot pull it, I guess you have to trade a larger unit to downsize?

That certainly helps me decide that my next purchase will be a 3Br silver unit!

Thanks everyone. Always learning!

 

[BocaBoy]

It is available for online search because your 2br Ocean Pointe units did not have enough trading power to match it. Seems like size 3br vs 2br trumps season for this exchange.
Pretty sure the long time marriott gurus would agree that in II size matters

Exactly my point.

 

[BocaBoy]

Well that is awfully disappointing. I always thought that a 2Br with the highest TDI that II assigns would pull a 2Br with lower TDI in a lower season. This certainly explains why trades into Marco Island are so difficult. If my 2Br platinum with the highest TDI possible cannot pull it, I guess you have to trade a larger unit to downsize?

Crystal Shores is a much higher demand resort than Ocean Pointe. TDI is not resort specific.

 

[tschwa2]

I'm surprised that your silver season could see it. I would have expected a gold or platinum week 3 br from that resort to see it. I am not surprised the 1br platinum or the 2 br gold could not. I am also surprised that the 2 br platinum could see it. What week were you using for that one?

Usually it takes a gold 3br beach unit or a 2 br platinum beach unit, or a 3 br platinum non beach to see. I am also a little surprised that the agent could bump up your unit's trading power more than the act of an active ongoing search. I would have thought they were about equal. I am pretty sure that if you had the search with the 2 br plat OP week, it would have matched even if you couldn't see it online.

 

[jjluhman]

I'm surprised that your silver season could see it. I would have expected a gold or platinum week 3 br from that resort to see it. I am not surprised the 1br platinum or the 2 br gold could not. I am also surprised that the 2 br platinum could see it. What week were you using for that one?

Usually it takes a gold 3br beach unit or a 2 br platinum beach unit, or a 3 br platinum non beach to see. I am also a little surprised that the agent could bump up your unit's trading power more than the act of an active ongoing search. I would have thought they were about equal. I am pretty sure that if you had the search with the 2 br plat OP week, it would have matched even if you couldn't see it online.

I could not pull it with a 2BR Platinum (President's week) Ocean View Ocean Pointe unit. That week for that region of Florida is the highest TDI a unit can be assigned. The 2Br unit that I was trying to match at Marco Island was a 2BR unit with lower TDI for that region for that week. I could understand if the Gold unit could not pull it, but I was really surprised that the 2Br OP could not pull it either.

 

[puckmanfl]

good afternoon...

TDI is only good for comparison within an individual resort. It does not distinguish trade power BETWEEN resorts. For example, a presidents week at Sabal Palms may have TDI of 140... and a May MM1 new towers at MOC may only be 120 (because of the more even demand ). Clearly , the 2 unit at MM1 with lower TDI trumps the Orlando with higher...

Size rules ...My 3 bedroom plat GV always outraded my 2 bedroom Hawaii units...

That's why the 3 bedroom GC and Gv rock as traders!!!

 

[jjluhman]

good afternoon...

TDI is only good for comparison within an individual resort. It does not distinguish trade power BETWEEN resorts. For example, a presidents week at Sabal Palms may have TDI of 140... and a May MM1 new towers at MOC may only be 120 (because of the more even demand ). Clearly , the 2 unit at MM1 with lower TDI trumps the Orlando with higher...

Size rules ...My 3 bedroom plat GV always outraded my 2 bedroom Hawaii units...

That's why the 3 bedroom GC and Gv rock as traders!!!

Thank you Puck! I really did not know that TDI did not apply to trading. I thought you always wanted to book the highest rated week because it meant more trading power. I think I am even more confused about what trading power is and how II determines how weeks are matched!

 

[puckmanfl]

good evening

TDI gives you the highest /most powerful resort in YOUR resort.. It doesn't trump others...

I think common sense gives you a good guide to trading power... An October week at MOC new towers with TDI of 120 will out trade a Branson week with TDI 0f 150....

If you wish to trade, please still book the highest TDI week at your home resort, because it has higher trade (assuming size is equal) than other weeks at your resort.

Size does trump however... 3 bedroom GV plat out trades 2 bedroom Hawaii..I did the experiment with my Koolina and Waiohai...

 

[Big Matt]

Just for grins, the internal II system is based on points which are calculated by many things including season, demand, size, etc. It has absolutely nothing to do with Marriott colors and never will. Forget about Silver, Gold, and Platinum. They are meaningless in II.

I'll give you a very strange example of how trading power works in II. I have a Grande Vista studio booked for Spring Break week. It pulls a 2BR Grande Vista July 4th week. True or False? It pulls a Lakeshore Reserve 2BR July 4th week. True or False?

True for both. Why? Not sure.

Also, they don't show TDI on II anymore as far as I can tell.

 

[1st Class]

Big Matt:

I'm still seeing TDI on II. Maybe your browser is blocking something?

jjluhman:

Yes, still book the highest rated week at your resort. Each resort area has its own TDI separate and distinct from others which may be more highly rated by II. That is part of II's "secret formula". You can only exchange what you own, but if someone with a higher rated week from another area wants the week you requested, it will trump your week. FWIW, I've rarely seen 2BR Crystal Shores weeks outside of flex when searching with a 2BR Platinum week. The 3BR always sees Crystal Shores outside flex, although they are few and far between.

If there is a week I really want that is a difficult trade, I don't depend on II for a match. Searching II several times daily and checking sightings works best for me. I've been disappointed by II's matching system too many times to rely upon it to work correctly.

II is challenging for sure, but you got your week via a minor detour and that's what matters. Enjoy the week.

 

[MALC9990]

So it would just be dumped into online inventory rather than match an ongoing search? That is the part that I did not understand.

Ongoing searches are matched once per day, overnight in a batch process. So if a week is deposited at 10am then the week is available for manual searches online for the rest of the day until the overnight match process is run. Of course other rules will still aply e.g. Marriott preference.

 

[jjluhman]

Ongoing searches are matched once per day, overnight in a batch process. So if a week is deposited at 10am then the week is available for manual searches online for the rest of the day until the overnight match process is run. Of course other rules will still aply e.g. Marriott preference.

Thanks MALC, I do understand that part. This particular week was available beginning Sunday. It disappeared during the day and was there again each morning at 6am (the time I regularly check online inventory).

I am excited that I got the week using the unit that I wanted! In the process I learned lot (and hopefully helped others too) about II and will adjust my trading strategy accordingly!:whoopie:

 

[Big Matt]

The matching system runs every 15 minutes. So there are up to 15 minutes where deposits sit there before the match routine runs. That's where people find hidden gems and take advantage.

Big Matt:

I'm still seeing TDI on II. Maybe your browser is blocking something?

jjluhman:

Yes, still book the highest rated week at your resort. Each resort area has its own TDI separate and distinct from others which may be more highly rated by II. That is part of II's "secret formula". You can only exchange what you own, but if someone with a higher rated week from another area wants the week you requested, it will trump your week. FWIW, I've rarely seen 2BR Crystal Shores weeks outside of flex when searching with a 2BR Platinum week. The 3BR always sees Crystal Shores outside flex, although they are few and far between.

If there is a week I really want that is a difficult trade, I don't depend on II for a match. Searching II several times daily and checking sightings works best for me. I've been disappointed by II's matching system too many times to rely upon it to work correctly.

II is challenging for sure, but you got your week via a minor detour and that's what matters. Enjoy the week.

 

[dioxide45]

Ongoing searches are matched once per day, overnight in a batch process. So if a week is deposited at 10am then the week is available for manual searches online for the rest of the day until the overnight match process is run. Of course other rules will still aply e.g. Marriott preference.

As Matt points out, a week deposited isn't available online for the rest of the day. It will get swept and put in the queue to match in the overnight process. It does pay to check often though as you can catch some of those gems that get deposited before they get swept. But the time you have isn't long.

 

[MALC9990]

The matching system runs every 15 minutes. So there are up to 15 minutes where deposits sit there before the match routine runs. That's where people find hidden gems and take advantage.

I find that strange for two reasons.

1. When I asked, II told me that it was an overnight process.

2. As a recently retired IT professional, I would think that running such a process every 15 minutes would be, firstly most unusual, secondly, probably technically impossible to do every 15 minutes even with the fastest servers in the universe.

Did you get that info from II?

 

[MALC9990]

As Matt points out, a week deposited isn't available online for the rest of the day. It will get swept and put in the queue to match in the overnight process. It does pay to check often though as you can catch some of those gems that get deposited before they get swept. But the time you have isn't long.

Again, thisnis not what I was told when I asked II. Deposits appear in the database soon after being deposited. Perhaps II have moved on in recent years since I had that information.

 

[dioxide45]

Again, thisnis not what I was told when I asked II. Deposits appear in the database soon after being deposited. Perhaps II have moved on in recent years since I had that information.

Deposits do appear instantly in the database. That is correct. They just don't stay there in online instant inventory for the remainder of the day. This is why we often see a deposit popup and then disappear, never to reappear. It is possible that it got snapped up by someone in an exchange, though it is more likely that it is "hidden" because it is being saved for the overnight matching process. If they stayed in instant exchange inventory, there would be a lot fewer overnight matches and a lot more prime weeks booked out of instant inventory.

I really don't know why it works this way and why deposits don't don't just first go in to the queue for the over night process.

 

[Quilter]

I am excited that I got the week using the unit that I wanted! In the process I learned lot (and hopefully helped others too) about II and will adjust my trading strategy accordingly!:whoopie:

Thanks. This thread definitely taught me something.

I'm still baffled that the week would sit in available inventory and not be matched to an ongoing search.

 

[dioxide45]

Thanks. This thread definitely taught me something.

I'm still baffled that the week would sit in available inventory and not be matched to an ongoing search.

Ultimately you need the trade power to pull any trade. If I has a studio out searching for a week at Crystal Shores, I wouldn't expect it to match before just sitting in instant inventory.

I am not surprised by the OPs experience. We have done trade tests in the Sightings forum when Crystal Shores weeks show up. It seems that only the uber prime 2BR unit will see it and a 3BR lesser unit can also see it. For whatever reason, II has placed HUGE trade power requirements on Crystal Shores. Perhaps that will lighten some when more units come online. Though if they never make it to II, that may not change.

Oddly, Kalanipu'u which is almost as rare in II as Crystal Shores, doesn't seem to experience the same huge trade power requirements.

 

[MALC9990]

Deposits do appear instantly in the database. That is correct. They just don't stay there in online instant inventory for the remainder of the day. This is why we often see a deposit popup and then disappear, never to reappear. It is possible that it got snapped up by someone in an exchange, though it is more likely that it is "hidden" because it is being saved for the overnight matching process. If they stayed in instant exchange inventory, there would be a lot fewer overnight matches and a lot more prime weeks booked out of instant inventory.

I really don't know why it works this way and why deposits don't don't just first go in to the queue for the over night process.

The logical process would be that all deposits would be placed in a holding queue for the overnight batch process to match up with ongoing searches but when ever was II logical.

However as Information Technology advances every year, it would only take sufficient server brute force to allow II to do real-time matches against ongoing searches when a deposit is made - thus removing that small degree of unfairness.

 

[icydog]

I own a silver three bedroom Surfwatch Garden View. It is worth 2125 DC Points, whereas a gold two bedroom at Oceana Palms is worth 2625 DC Points.

This small example proves that Marriott, at least, knows the value of a two bedroom-- in a great resort-- in Gold time--is worth more than a crappy week in the winter on Hilton Head Island-- even though it's a bigger unit.

Why II doesn't realize this is beyond me.