E-Plus Questions

[feckman]

Hi All,

I am a bit confused about E-Plus and have a few questions about the program. Last winter, I deposited my 2BR Lakeside Terrace in Beaver Creek unit with a request for a 2BR winter week in Breckenridge, CO or (preferably) Park City, UT. I purchased E-Plus for that deposit. In July, I received a confirmation for the first week in February at the Grand Timber Lodge in Breck.

My understanding at the time was that E-Plus would essentially allow me to do another deposit/ongoing search, but now that I try it that does not seem to be the case. Am I correct that E-Plus is limited to active available inventory in the system? If so, what is the likelihood that anything in Park City (or maybe a larger unit or different resort in Colorado) from mid-January to early March will ever hit the "open market" for me to access using E-Plus?

Are there any strategies or best practices for when to do searches? Or is there any way to know when resorts do bulk deposits into the system?

Bottom line is that I'm okay with the week and resort I received, but I would really love to try a different resort/location via E-Plus, too.

Thanks in advance!

--Jim.

 

[hurnik]

Basically e-Plus allows you to "switch" resorts up to 3 times from *active inventory*.
So you have to constantly check-online and see what shows up.

It doesn't, unfortunately, let you setup an OGS and then switch into that (you'd have to cancel the OGS and hope it shows up but I find that rare, as it'll go to someone else's OGS).

I asked the same thing over on the II "community" site (once you login to Interval World, there's a section for "Community" where you can post questions, etc.)

Basically that's what I was told.

They also said that checking twice a day (ha!) should be sufficient. But someone else noticed that sometimes inventory shows up between 1-6 a.m. (ugh).

 

[NiteMaire]

My understanding at the time was that E-Plus would essentially allow me to do another deposit/ongoing search, but now that I try it that does not seem to be the case. Am I correct that E-Plus is limited to active available inventory in the system?

Correct, you can not do an OGS with e-plus; you're limited to active available inventory. In general, keep searching active inventory; even more so as you get closer to your date. I have a habit of checking II many times a day when I'm on the active search for a (re)trade. You can have success. I see @hurnik posted as I was answering and I agree with his comments.

If so, what is the likelihood that anything in Park City (or maybe a larger unit or different resort in Colorado) from mid-January to early March will ever hit the "open market" for me to access using E-Plus?

I'll defer to others...

Are there any strategies or best practices for when to do searches? Or is there any way to know when resorts do bulk deposits into the system?

Early morning East Coast time is best. You can check the sightings area to see if/when tuggers have reported bulk deposits for the areas you want. I presume there won't be (m)any deposits, even less in bulk, for prime ski season weeks. The good news is that it seems you exchanged into a good resort in a great area in the heart of ski season.

 

[Saintsfanfl]

It doesn't, unfortunately, let you setup an OGS and then switch into that.

There are methods of accomplishing the same thing as long as you have several units to work with. You snag your initial exchange and then set up another OGS with a second unit. If it hits you can then E-Plus to something else down the road.

There are some other methods for maximizing E-Plus value that I am not going to post but anyone can use their imagination. The key is to have several units available to work with.

 

[1st Class]

In addition to checking sightings, you may want to post a sightings request for what you're searching for. There are lots of helpful Tuggers who post sightings, but you'll increase your chances of finding it if more people know what to look for.

 

[hurnik]

There are methods of accomplishing the same thing as long as you have several units to work with. You snag your initial exchange and then set up another OGS with a second unit. If it hits you can then E-Plus to something else down the road.

There are some other methods for maximizing E-Plus value that I am not going to post but anyone can use their imagination. The key is to have several units available to work with.

While that "works" the issue is that you still have your original booking and you can only e-Plus up to a certain point prior to check-in, if memory serves.

So if say you have something booked in 5 months and you can only "switch" by using a new exchange, you still have to use your original booking within what, 4 months (or cancel it and eat the cost), or hope that you can e-Plus into something in that time.

Or does ePlus somehow let you switch for like the next 2 years?

 

[klpca]

While that "works" the issue is that you still have your original booking and you can only e-Plus up to a certain point prior to check-in, if memory serves.

So if say you have something booked in 5 months and you can only "switch" by using a new exchange, you still have to use your original booking within what, 4 months (or cancel it and eat the cost), or hope that you can e-Plus into something in that time.

Or does ePlus somehow let you switch for like the next 2 years?

Eplus gives you 12 months from your initial exchange. So if you need to "extend" a week, you can make your first exchange as far out as your deposit will allow, and you will get another 12 months from that exchange - but you will be doing manual searches the whole time. It's a trade off for sure. When we were going through my husband's cancer treatment, I extended every deposit this way. It's taken almost three years (and getting rid of some of our units as well) but we have worked through most of the backlog with the help of eplus.

It's definitely not perfect. I made a great trade with one of my remaining Marriott deposits - MMO 1 bedroom with a Shadow Ridge studio - and have been looking for a 2 bedroom as we have gotten closer to our travel date, but no cigar. The 1 bedroom is fine but 2 would have been better. At this point I don't think that it is going to happen.

 

[hurnik]

Eplus gives you 12 months from your initial exchange. So if you need to "extend" a week, you can make your first exchange as far out as your deposit will allow, and you will get another 12 months from that exchange - but you will be doing manual searches the whole time. It's a trade off for sure. When we were going through my husband's cancer treatment, I extended every deposit this way. It's taken almost three years (and getting rid of some of our units as well) but we have worked through most of the backlog with the help of eplus.

It's definitely not perfect. I made a great trade with one of my remaining Marriott deposits - MMO 1 bedroom with a Shadow Ridge studio - and have been looking for a 2 bedroom as we have gotten closer to our travel date, but no cigar. The 1 bedroom is fine but 2 would have been better. At this point I don't think that it is going to happen.

Oh, I see.

So, if I'm understanding correctly I'll use a scenario:

Deposit a Sept. 2020 week "today". You then have 1 year basically to book an exchange, but the exchange can be like 1+ years out.

Let's say you use the above deposited week, and exchange for something in Feb. 2020 (basically 6 months out).
Something comes up.

You use ePlus to re-trade to say, July 2020.
As you approach that date, you can re-trade (this would be retrade #2) again to say, Nov. 2020?
And you can keep doing that up to 12 months from when the original exchange expires?

Do I have it more or less?

Thanks!

 

[Saintsfanfl]

Oh, I see.

So, if I'm understanding correctly I'll use a scenario:

Deposit a Sept. 2020 week "today". You then have 1 year basically to book an exchange, but the exchange can be like 1+ years out.

Let's say you use the above deposited week, and exchange for something in Feb. 2020 (basically 6 months out).
Something comes up.

You use ePlus to re-trade to say, July 2020.
As you approach that date, you can re-trade (this would be retrade #2) again to say, Nov. 2020?
And you can keep doing that up to 12 months from when the original exchange expires?

Do I have it more or less?

Thanks!

E-Plus expiration is 1 year from the check-in date of the first exchange. The deposit expiration has no bearing unless it is less than the current two year exchange window. You could use a deposit today and trade for something all the way out to August of 2021. That would give an E-Plus expiration of August 2022.

 

[hurnik]

E-Plus expiration is 1 year from the check-in date of the first exchange. The deposit expiration has no bearing unless it is less than the current two year exchange window. You could use a deposit today and trade for something all the way out to August of 2021. That would give an E-Plus expiration of August 2022.

Thank you very much!
That helps my understanding tremendously. Thanks again!