How does on join Interval International?

[REnce]

We bought our first TS resale a few months back. It has closed, we've got the deed, even got the bill for the upcoming year's maint fees.

We are now looking to join II - but I am sure finding it hard to figure out how to go about joining.

I did a search and found reference to http://www.intervalworld.com/ Took me a while to finally find the teeny-tiny enroll link in the upper right hand corner. This takes me to a page. that gives almost no information. It has a link to a PDF file, a mailing address and a fax number.

Looked at the PDF file and I find it less than self-explanatory. For example, under Membership Programs and Dues it has Individual and Preferred Memberships - nothing explains what these are, what the differences are etc. The second page of the form is full of small print but offers little in the way of explanation.

I am finding it hard to believe that they reall expect prospective members to find this rather obscure page with little to no information about II and actually fill out this form and send a check on a huge leap of faith. So what am I doing wrong?

 

[Cathyb]

Best you talk to a 'live' person at II -- try 1/800 622-1747 and tell them you want to join II. Welcome to TUG!

 

[littlestar]

Definitely call them. They can give you the prices on various memberships, whether you want a regular membership or gold, 1, 2, 3, or 5 year membership, etc. They'll give you prices on all of the options. We bought a 5 year gold membership because we take advantage of the cash Getaway weeks. You get an extra $25.00 off getaway weeks when you're a gold member. We thought gold was worth it for us because we will book at least 4 or 5 Getaway weeks a year.

Welcome to Tug and congratulations on your purchase.

 

[Bill4728]

Definitely call them. They can give you the prices on various memberships, whether you want a regular membership or gold, 1, 2, 3, or 5 year membership, etc. They'll give you prices on all of the options. We bought a 5 year gold membership because we take advantage of the cash Getaway weeks. You get an extra $25.00 off getaway weeks when you're a gold member. We thought gold was worth it for us because we will book at least 4 or 5 Getaway weeks a year.

Welcome to Tug and congratulations on your purchase.

Unlike Littlestar, most people don't find the GOLD Interval membership to be worth the extra price you pay. If like littlestar, you'll use two or more getaways a year than it might be worth it, but for most people it isn't.

You may find you never want to exchange and belonging to an exchange company is a waste of money. Most people here on TUG like to exchange and belonging to II is money well spent. Just sign up for a 1-2 year membership and see how it goes.

Welcome to TUG


PS I see that you own at Disney. Most people use their Disney and never exchange if thats you don't join II till you need to.

 

[littlestar]

DVC members are not allowed to join II with an individual membership. We weren't eligible to join II until we bought a non DVC timeshare. I see you also own at Peppertree at Tamarack - that will enable you to join II if you want to trade or take advantage of the Getaways.

If you ever trade with your DVC points, that has to be done through DVC Member Services.

Bill gave you some good advice.

 

[peterp]

Can you Join II without owning a timeshare and just take advantage of the getaways?

 

[jim71]

Can you Join II without owning a timeshare and just take advantage of the getaways?

I don't think so. I just joined last week and I had to give them the name of the resort I own at. They said my membership wouldn't be final until they verified it.

 

[bhrungo]

We also just joined last week, 2 years for $84.00...is that what everyone else is paying? Hope that was a decent price!
Can't wait to get my new member number and start doing searches online!!
Have been members of RCI for the past ten years, so I am looking forward to giving II a try!

 

[m61376]

Are they running a special now or did you have a discount code you used? I need to join too and I thought it was $84 for one year.

 

[REnce]

Thanks for the help.

We bought DVC a couple of years ago and we really like it. We were intrigued by the notion of being able to use DVC to trade via II, but some investigation showed us that economically it wasn't the best idea. We have enough DVC points for a periodic DVC fix.

We just purchased a timeshare nearby at a good price with the intention of trading. We did some homework and made sure that we purchased at an in-demand location for an in-demand week. Our intention is to actually use our unit this year, but to use it for trade most years in the future. We're looking at both II and RCI (Our resort trades through both)

We also are looking at picking up a second week in the near future and that should about have us covered for vacations for the next several years.

 

[djs]

I have to side with littlestar on the Gold membership too, at the 5-year rate the upgrade is $40 per year. I find the discounts on exchanges to help make this worth the added cost, but what I also put a great value on is the Hertz #1 Club Gold membership that comes with Interval Gold. This normaly costs $50 per year (though I believe it can be had for $25 per year for AAA members). It is so nice to get to the rental agency and just get in your car w/o having to wait in a long line. I realize that some may not put the value on this that I do, and that's fine, I'm just throwing out reasons why II Gold is worth the added cost to me. Of course, I do still check rates and will not spend $100 more on a weekly rental just to rent with Hertz, but I've found more often than not that Hertz' rates are competitive.

 

[littlestar]

We're actually getting $50 off the getaways during our first year of membership with II. I guess that must have been a special at the time we joined.

I logged into my II account at work the other day and showed one of my coworkers the prices on some of the Getaway weeks in Orlando and she couldn't believe it. She said, is that per person? I said, no, that's for the WHOLE week - one flat price per unit for a week, plus the tax. She was amazed. She said now I understand how you take so many trips.

 

[REnce]

Finally getting around to attempt to joining II.

I must say that I can't believe how difficult they make it. I would think that as a business they would be out welcoming new members with open arms, provide helpful information and make the process simple and straight forward.

Nope - called - "You have to fill out the PDF on the website and fax it in - that is the only way you can join". OK, so we are back to the cryptic, no explanation PDF file that I saw originally.

I ask about some of the fields on the form "How do we get our Resort Number" - the helpful answer "You should know that". If I knew it, I wouldn't be asking.

Does II not want new members? I seriously think that I could join the Masons or some other secret society easier than I can join II.

 

[tashamen]

I suspect that a good majority of II members became members when they bought from a developer, in which case the developer signed them up for their first year and filled out the form. That's certainly how we joined, and we never even saw the membership form. I did take a look at it online, and agree that there is some information asked for that you probably need to call and get from the HOA of the resort where you bought. They have you on the books now (since you received a bill), and should be able to answer any of your questions for the form.

Don't worry - once you manage to join, II will certainly come after you to renew your membership or upgrade to Gold with amazing persistence!

 

[Bill4728]

I looked on the www.intervalworld.com and found the resort code for your TS is "TCK" That's Peppertree at Tamarack

 

[DWM]

Besides the Getaways and Hertz membership, I like the Gold Concierge service. Whenever I need help with something, I just give them a call. It's very cool.

 

[JudyS]

I...Don't worry - once you manage to join, II will certainly come after you to renew your membership or upgrade to Gold with amazing persistence!

Yeah, I called about something the other day, and had to keep telling them, "No I don't want a renewal or Gold membership."

$84 for two years is an excellant price. It's 2-for-1.

As for the II enrollment form, it's WAY easier than the form to open or transfer an RCI Points account. (I just filled out an RCI Points transfer form yesterday.) Probably all the information you need is on your deed (your resort code has already been mentioned in this thread), except that you may need to call the resort to get your resort ownership number.

The preferred membership is the "Gold" membership discussed here. I own so many timeshare weeks that I never use II Getaways, so I don't need the Gold membership. (I also have a free National Emerald Club membership, obtained through www.mousesavers.com . So, I don't need a Hertz Gold Club membership, either.) You may want to call II and ask for the 2-for-1 year membership deal mentioned in this thread.

 

[hipslo]

Finally getting around to attempt to joining II.

I must say that I can't believe how difficult they make it. I would think that as a business they would be out welcoming new members with open arms, provide helpful information and make the process simple and straight forward.

Nope - called - "You have to fill out the PDF on the website and fax it in - that is the only way you can join". OK, so we are back to the cryptic, no explanation PDF file that I saw originally.

I ask about some of the fields on the form "How do we get our Resort Number" - the helpful answer "You should know that". If I knew it, I wouldn't be asking.

Does II not want new members? I seriously think that I could join the Masons or some other secret society easier than I can join II.

I just called to join and all info was taken over the phone, and they said I should have my membership number within a few days. Guess like everything else it depends on the luck of the draw as to who you get when you call.

 

[REnce]

I just called to join and all info was taken over the phone, and they said I should have my membership number within a few days. Guess like everything else it depends on the luck of the draw as to who you get when you call.

The guy I last spoke too was insistent that I put his name on the application (commission perhaps?) but wasn't very helpful - just kept telling me we should know all this information. I sort of dragged my feet because so far I hadn't been impressed.

Filled out the form and faxed it in Sunday - did use Resort code TCK as Bill had found. I found it too and it sure looked like the right code to me.

Well yesterday I get home and there is a message from II with questions about my applicaiton. Apparantly that isn't the right code at all as she was talking about some resort I had never heard of and saying that they couldn't find me owning there.

Once I gave her a bit of background - including telling her about the less than helpful first call - she was wonderful - she did some searching was able to come up with everything and get the form all corrected. She made sure that I had her name and extension and was told to call her directly if I had any questions or problems. So you are right it does depend on who you talk to.

 

[hipslo]

So you are right it does depend on who you talk to.

It REALLY does. As a follow up, it took just three days from my initial call to receipt of my membership number (and I called on a SUNDAY!), and I didnt have to fill out any form or anything, just answered a few questions over the phone. A few weeks later I decided I wanted to add my other resort to my account - that took several weeks and multiple follow up calls to accomplish.

 

[REnce]

It REALLY does. As a follow up, it took just three days from my initial call to receipt of my membership number (and I called on a SUNDAY!), and I didnt have to fill out any form or anything, just answered a few questions over the phone. A few weeks later I decided I wanted to add my other resort to my account - that took several weeks and multiple follow up calls to accomplish.

Wonder why we got the runaround when we tried to call? Well here is the update. A few days after talking to the helpful rep, my credit card was charged. A few days later we received the II directory. BUT - we never received a membership number or anything besides the directory. They said up to four weeks and it has been over four weeks.

I emailed customer service a day and a half ago but so far no response - guess tomorrow I will have to get on the phone with them.

This is turning into a real comedy of errors. I have actually toyed with just giving up on II and disputing the charge with my credit card company, since II never sent what I purchased. But I'll give them another attempt to get this straightened out.

:annoyed:

 

[rickandcindy23]

Our membership number is somewhere on our directory, though I have had it memorized for many years, so I have no reason to find it. Maybe it is on the mailing label or on a card inside the package? It should be about 7 numbers. If you find such a number, I would bet you could set up online access pretty quickly. Then the fun begins. :whoopie:

I love II's site and love to search for all areas and see what pops up with our weeks. You don't even have to deposit first.

 

[dopeyfav]

II membership

As a newbie, I am a little confused. As a FF points TS owner, can I join II & is there any advantage to my doing so? Thanks for the info.

 

[carolbol]

I believe the 2 years for $84 is a two for one offer. They offer two years for the price of one every so often to certain resorts. Yes, that was a good deal.

 

[carolbol]

We also just joined last week, 2 years for $84.00...is that what everyone else is paying? Hope that was a decent price!
Can't wait to get my new member number and start doing searches online!!
Have been members of RCI for the past ten years, so I am looking forward to giving II a try!

Two years for $84 was a good deal. It is a two for one offer that II offers certain resorts every so often.