How to use Interval International to get a unit using my Marriott deposit???

[Ghamrick]

Looking for advice/help understanding use of Interval International with a Marriott week deposited. We have an every other year Marriott one-bedroom oceanfront suite in Maui. We ended up NOT using it one year and so we deposited it in Internal International last September (2019) kind of as a last resort or it would be gone with nothing to show. We are looking for a “similar” unit also in Maui, for September 2020. We listed three of the major timeshare properties in Maui very near the Marriott (Hyatt and both Westins in Kaanapali). Those are pretty large properties, and we had a full year to get something. Nothing has come up. I was told “people deposit after the first of the year, so be patient” – yet nothing. Interval International tried to give us two separate properties that are not “Elite” resorts like the Marriott, Hyatt or Westins – in fact those offered were one to two quality steps lower. So my question; why would we not get ANY response for the requested resorts that have hundreds if not thousands of rooms? Someone told me that people rarely deposit Hyatt, Marriott or Westin on Maui. Is that likely true? If so, why they are those properties even listed in Interval isfthe likelihood of getting them is extremely low. This whole thing seems pretty useless to me. What is our best strategy to get something in Maui at least somewhat close in quality to what we deposited? I know COVID has messed everything up so I am asking the question as if we are in a “normal world” since we did put in the request 8 months ago with nothing but lower quality units being offered. I am beginning to think Interval is just not a valuable tool for what we want, but please correct me if I am wrong or I should try different tactics.

 

[Pamplemousse]

Hi Ghamrick,
Ive had great luck exchanging my Orlando Marriott on II for nearly 15 years so I’ll give you some thoughts.

First as I’m sure you know Marriott owners can reserve and deposit their week at 12 or 13 months so I am most successful if I have my request made already before the deposits start coming in. Sounds like you pretty much did that. I believe there are many owners of other brands that do deposit after the first of the year, after they pay maintenance fees.

I believe it is true that many who own Maui or other highly marketable weeks do choose to rent their units if they are not using them. If you have a look at redweek you’ll see several units available at the Maui Marriott,Westins.
I’ve exchanged into Kauai twice and also the Big island on II.

It doesn’t matter how many units a resort has- if an owner doesn’t deposit the unit you want it isn’t available to you to exchange in. II will call from time to time to check in and let you know if something else is available- some people may need/ want a specific location and decide to be flexible on the resort itself.

Every resort that is a member of II is in the directory. They belong there because owners can deposit and resorts themselves can choose to deposit excess units for exchange or getaways.

I don’t think you can write off II as not being valuable just because your request for 1 of 3 high end resorts on Maui has not come through. September is still 5 months away and really who knows what will happen this year so your exchange could still come through. Good luck!

 

[Ghamrick]

Hi Ghamrick,
Ive had great luck exchanging my Orlando Marriott on II for nearly 15 years so I’ll give you some thoughts.

First as I’m sure you know Marriott owners can reserve and deposit their week at 12 or 13 months so I am most successful if I have my request made already before the deposits start coming in. Sounds like you pretty much did that. I believe there are many owners of other brands that do deposit after the first of the year, after they pay maintenance fees.

I believe it is true that many who own Maui or other highly marketable weeks do choose to rent their units if they are not using them. If you have a look at redweek you’ll see several units available at the Maui Marriott,Westins.
I’ve exchanged into Kauai twice and also the Big island on II.

It doesn’t matter how many units a resort has- if an owner doesn’t deposit the unit you want it isn’t available to you to exchange in. II will call from time to time to check in and let you know if something else is available- some people may need/ want a specific location and decide to be flexible on the resort itself.

Every resort that is a member of II is in the directory. They belong there because owners can deposit and resorts themselves can choose to deposit excess units for exchange or getaways.

I don’t think you can write off II as not being valuable just because your request for 1 of 3 high end resorts on Maui has not come through. September is still 5 months away and really who knows what will happen this year so your exchange could still come through. Good luck!

Thanks for the reply. Yes, I am probably frustrated that nothing has happened in 8 months, I expected more. I realize that it is not certain people will deposit weeks from those properties, but I was playing the numbers games as those are very large resorts so I assumed there would be multitude of deposits. But again not having used II, maybe I was making that up in my mind and the reality is that few get deposited. In which case, II is not at all useful to me in this instance. I suppose I can take a lower quality unit somewhere, but that is not the goal. Finally, in a "regular world" people like to plan a week in Maui at least a few months out and if a trade comes in July or August that is not much time to schedule a vacation. I am just trying to understand how this all works in reality and common practice. I certainly expected at least some units coming up by now, but I guess not! I also know we could be flexible and look at other places, but Maui is where family is and that is our goal. Maybe II works better if we are looking in many other places, I don't know. We hoped so trade for something in Spain one day (after COVID). But given my experience here of depositing a very valuable unit and getting nothing in 8 months, I am now wary of the whole process.

 

[cbyrne1174]

Aren't the MF for Maui $2400 for a 2 bedroom? There are probably tons of Marriott owners that have search requests as well that you are competing with. They can deposit a 2 bedroom with MF of $1400 and get a $2400 Maui unit by just having to pay the exchange fee. Don't all Marriott locations weigh equally in the system? I'd imagine there are tons of savvy owners that do that just to get a Maui unit for $850 less than what it costs to own there. Savvy Maui owners will also rent out their unit instead of putting it into II because they know they can get more for it than what it exchanges for. I'm not a Marriott owner, but that's just my educated guess because that's what I would do. I would let an ongoing request sit there for YEARS if I had to, but I will not pay $2,400 for something that I can get for $1,550 by just being patient. That's how I plan on getting DVC units other than Saratoga Springs on RCI. If I have to wait a year, so be it, but I'm not going to rent something for $3,000 If I can get it for $1050 by just being patient.

 

[Ghamrick]

Aren't the MF for Maui $2400 for a 2 bedroom? There are probably tons of Marriott owners that have search requests as well that you are competing with. They can deposit a 2 bedroom with MF of $1400 and get a $2400 Maui unit by just having to pay the exchange fee. Don't all Marriott locations weigh equally in the system? I'd imagine there are tons of savvy owners that do that just to get a Maui unit for $850 less than what it costs to own there. Savvy Maui owners will also rent out their unit instead of putting it into II because they know they can get more for it than what it exchanges for. I'm not a Marriott owner, but that's just my educated guess because that's what I would do. I would let an ongoing request sit there for YEARS if I had to, but I will not pay $2,400 for something that I can get for $1,550 by just being patient. That's how I plan on getting DVC units other than Saratoga Springs on RCI. If I have to wait a year, so be it, but I'm not going to rent something for $3,000 If I can get it for $1050 by just being patient.

Thanks for your reply. I actually have no idea what you just wrote. What is "MF"? And no, all Marriott units are not the same. Some are suites, some are not ocean view, some are two bedroom, some are oceanfront, etc. All are far different costs and points. We deposited our week because we didn't use it and it was going to run out. Actually I think what we deposited were the equivalent points as Marriott went to a points system, but you still have a "deed" to your home property and can either just use it or convert to points to use elsewhere. I am completely clueless as to how this all works. It seems overly complicated to me and you need a Phd to work the system.

 

[Steve Fatula]

MF = Maintenance Fee. You are not sure if you are a DC points owner or a weeks owner? It will tell you on mvci.com if you look there.

Marriott can function as a weeks system, a points system, or even both. Depends what you own.

There are many factors that go into good II trading. Generally, the least happy II traders are the ones who own in Hawaii as most trades are "down". People who own at most other places often trade "up". For that reason, I believe not very many Maui owners (as compared to lower 48 US owners) deposit their weeks into II.

 

[cbyrne1174]

I was just saying that from what I understand, wouldn't a Maui 2 bedroom trade equally with a Grand Chateau 2 bedroom using II since they are both elite status if they were both in high demand season?

 

[Ghamrick]

MF = Maintenance Fee. You are not sure if you are a DC points owner or a weeks owner? It will tell you on mvci.com if you look there.

Marriott can function as a weeks system, a points system, or even both. Depends what you own.

There are many factors that go into good II trading. Generally, the least happy II traders are the ones who own in Hawaii as most trades are "down". People who own at most other places often trade "up". For that reason, I believe not very many Maui owners (as compared to lower 48 US owners) deposit their weeks into II.

Thank you. I am both. We purchased a "week" many years ago then converted to points a few years ago. We can use as a week or as points. At a certain point we need to choose to keep as the week and simply use it or convert to points. The one we deposited was already converted.

 

[Pamplemousse]

Thank you. I am both. We purchased a "week" many years ago then converted to points a few years ago. We can use as a week or as points. At a certain point we need to choose to keep as the week and simply use it or convert to points. The one we deposited was already converted.

So are you saying you elected your week to points and when the points were about to expire you had mvc convert them to a week to deposit into Interval? If so,what did you deposit- what size and season/tdi? And now you can’t exchange to a Marriott.

Or maybe I’m not understanding you and you mean you deposited your reserved home resort week? I’m not sure what you mean by ‘converted’.

 

[frank808]

I was just saying that from what I understand, wouldn't a Maui 2 bedroom trade equally with a Grand Chateau 2 bedroom using II since they are both elite status if they were both in high demand season?

No. The TDI is just gives you trading power from within that area. So a TDI of 150 from Las Vegas does not mean it has the same trade value as a TDI of 150 from Maui.

You are trading a Kauai 2br with 150 TDI deposited into II 2 years out and I have an Grand Vista with same specs. We both put in a request for Maui 2br same time. The Kauai would match first being that it is a higher value than my Orlando week. Hope this helps you out.

Also exchanging into DVC and getting a 1br unit other than SSR is rare. Within the past 8 months there has been people matching resorts other than SSR. That is the exception and not the norm for the past few years.

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[Ghamrick]

So are you saying you elected your week to points and when the points were about to expire you had mvc convert them to a week to deposit into Interval? If so,what did you deposit- what size and season/tdi? And now you can’t exchange to a Marriott.

Or maybe I’m not understanding you and you mean you deposited your reserved home resort week? I’m not sure what you mean by ‘converted’.

I own one week of a one bedroom ocean view suite with Marriott. The way Marriott works is I can either simply use the week (it is available most any weeks except a few black out weeks such as Christmas week when I cannot), OR I can covert it to the equivalent Marriott points and use it at other Marriott timeshare properties (such as if I wanted to use it in Newport Beach I could use the points for that instead of my Maui week once I convert to points for that year). One year, I converted to points, but then did not use the points. Before the points expired, I deposited it into Interval. If I had not done that, the points would have expired and I would have nothing. This way, I still have a chance to get a week somewhere else. The way Marriott and Interval work, once I convert to points and put it into Interval, I can ONLY get non-Marriott trades. I hoped that a week would come up at one of the three properties I requested last September. So far, nothing. My question is simply why nothing is coming up? Do people simply not deposit their weeks at the Hyatt and Westins in Maui? Is there simply no inventory? Maybe so, but those resorts are in the Interval system so I (perhaps naively) assumed a unit would come up.

 

[dioxide45]

I own one week of a one bedroom ocean view suite with Marriott. The way Marriott works is I can either simply use the week (it is available most any weeks except a few black out weeks such as Christmas week when I cannot), OR I can covert it to the equivalent Marriott points and use it at other Marriott timeshare properties (such as if I wanted to use it in Newport Beach I could use the points for that instead of my Maui week once I convert to points for that year). One year, I converted to points, but then did not use the points. Before the points expired, I deposited it into Interval. If I had not done that, the points would have expired and I would have nothing. This way, I still have a chance to get a week somewhere else. The way Marriott and Interval work, once I convert to points and put it into Interval, I can ONLY get non-Marriott trades. I hoped that a week would come up at one of the three properties I requested last September. So far, nothing. My question is simply why nothing is coming up? Do people simply not deposit their weeks at the Hyatt and Westins in Maui? Is there simply no inventory? Maybe so, but those resorts are in the Interval system so I (perhaps naively) assumed a unit would come up.

So you are now trying to trade in to the Hyatt and I expect at least two if not all the Westin properties on Maui? This is likely the problem. Westin owners have a priority period with II. So they get first dibs on exchanges in to any Westin deposits. Any deposits that make it through Priority then are offered up to Marriott owners for a period of time. I suspect it is the Vistana priority that is causing you issues. I would expect Hyatt deposits to be rare.

 

[frank808]

So you are now trying to trade in to the Hyatt and I expect at least two if not all the Westin properties on Maui? This is likely the problem. Westin owners have a priority period with II. So they get first dibs on exchanges in to any Westin deposits. Any deposits that make it through Priority then are offered up to Marriott owners for a period of time. I suspect it is the Vistana priority that is causing you issues. I would expect Hyatt deposits to be rare.

Would DC points be able to trade into Vistana and Westin properties since they are now part of Marriott?

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[dioxide45]

Would DC points be able to trade into Vistana and Westin properties since they are now part of Marriott?

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I think so. They aren't technically part of the system yet and they don't have full priority. I suspect if the system let the OP put the request in, they should be good. Though things may have changed since the time they had the request started and now and their requests is just in limbo.

 

[Pamplemousse]

I own one week of a one bedroom ocean view suite with Marriott. The way Marriott works is I can either simply use the week (it is available most any weeks except a few black out weeks such as Christmas week when I cannot), OR I can covert it to the equivalent Marriott points and use it at other Marriott timeshare properties (such as if I wanted to use it in Newport Beach I could use the points for that instead of my Maui week once I convert to points for that year). One year, I converted to points, but then did not use the points. Before the points expired, I deposited it into Interval. If I had not done that, the points would have expired and I would have nothing. This way, I still have a chance to get a week somewhere else. The way Marriott and Interval work, once I convert to points and put it into Interval, I can ONLY get non-Marriott trades. I hoped that a week would come up at one of the three properties I requested last September. So far, nothing. My question is simply why nothing is coming up? Do people simply not deposit their weeks at the Hyatt and Westins in Maui? Is there simply no inventory? Maybe so, but those resorts are in the Interval system so I (perhaps naively) assumed a unit would come up.

Hi Ghamrick,
I do know exactly how this all works- I own a week too and have elected it to points (I own straight points too).

Last year I had some previously banked points that were going to expire and I couldn’t vacation so I had MVC make a deposit into II. What happened was I told them how many points I wanted to deposit and I got to pick from a chart to choose was MVC put into II- for example I could have a high season studio or a medium season 1 br for the amount of points I deposited. That was what my question was- what does it say in the II account? That’s what you are exchanging.

The answer to your question as to why your request has not been matched is simply that the unit you requested has not become available to you. That’s just how exchanging works- someone has to put their unit into II and you have to have the trading power to exchange into it once they do. The trading power part is what I am getting at when I ask you what you deposited. Because at the first time I replied to you I thought you had deposited your home Maui week. But now it sounds like you did not.

Sounds like you feel that the Maui resorts you requested shouldn’t be in the II resort directory because they have not become available to you. But there are many resorts in the directory that are scarce- especially during peak season. And there are other that are there that one might not have the trading power to get during certain season or at all. That is just the way II works. There is both skill and luck involve— sometimes you win, others not so much.
And again if you have a look at redweek you will see many weeks for rent- owners may go for cash rather than taking their chances with II.

One last thing that you are probably aware of but I’ll mention is in addition to choosing to stay your ownership week or elect points you could also choose to deposit your ownership week into II. It is then good for 2 years and your will have the trading power of your Maui week and Marriott priority and free exchanges if you trade into another Marriott. This is how I have made many great trades over the years.

Good luck- I hope you get a match to Maui and if not there to someplace else great. The way I look at it I was going to lose/waste my points if I couldn’t deposit into II so whatever exchange I get is gravy.

 

[Pamplemousse]

Would DC points be able to trade into Vistana and Westin properties since they are now part of Marriott?

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Hi frank,
I had MVC convert leftover points to a week and deposit it into II and I do see Vistana when I search with it.
If I search with my DC points listed under my units on II I see Vistana that way too.
There is no exchange fee into Vistana either.

I‘m not familiar with Westin but if you tell me where some are located I would be happy to search with my week and let you know.

 

[cbyrne1174]

No. The TDI is just gives you trading power from within that area. So a TDI of 150 from Las Vegas does not mean it has the same trade value as a TDI of 150 from Maui.

You are trading a Kauai 2br with 150 TDI deposited into II 2 years out and I have an Grand Vista with same specs. We both put in a request for Maui 2br same time. The Kauai would match first being that it is a higher value than my Orlando week. Hope this helps you out.

Also exchanging into DVC and getting a 1br unit other than SSR is rare. Within the past 8 months there has been people matching resorts other than SSR. That is the exception and not the norm for the past few years.

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So let's say I own a 2 Bedroom Lock-off for Grande Vista and Make a reservation for 4th of July week and deposit that week into II (TDI shown below). Will it be able to easily trade with Maui during a lower demand week? (TDI shown below)....I thought that was how the Marriott week's system worked ...

 

[Pamplemousse]

So let's say I own a 2 Bedroom Lock-off for Grande Vista and Make a reservation for 4th of July week and deposit that week into II (TDI shown below). Will it be able to easily trade with Maui during a lower demand week? (TDI shown below)....I thought that was how the Marriott week's system worked ...
View attachment 19622
View attachment 19623

The big variable is will an owner of the week you want deposit it into II, and if they do will you be first in line for it.
There really is no way to know.

I have had many exchanges that were “up grades”- “better” resorts, higher TDI week, larger units. I think a lot of my success has been due to requesting early- I get it in a year or more in advance so when owners start depositing I am there. Marriott priority certainly helps too.

II is not an exact science and there are no guarantees.
And really once you deposit you are not dealing with Marriott anymore It’s II.

 

[Steve Fatula]

And my strategy is different than many Tuggers, I don't think deposit, ask for search, and wait is the optimal strategy, at least for me. I may do that, but I'll also manually log into II each day until I am done and look. People say gee, you'll only get leftovers. This is not always the case. Sometimes, things show up that should have matched to someone under various conditions. Also, sometimes, I find something else I didn't ask for which is just as good or even better. You can reserve even if you have a search ongoing. So, I would do both. In general, within 30 days of starting my search, I always get a match either from the automated search, or my search. For 20 years running. But keep in mind the reasons this works for me are I am not necessarily positively sold on going to a specific resort in a specific time, as I am retired.

I am just saying the concept that only leftovers go into II is definitely untrue.

 

[Dean]

I was just saying that from what I understand, wouldn't a Maui 2 bedroom trade equally with a Grand Chateau 2 bedroom using II since they are both elite status if they were both in high demand season?

No, they are not the same. Trade power is determined by unit size, location, lead time of the deposit and actual demand. LV is high availability and relatively low demand. The TDI has little to do with it unless the resorts are in the same region as it's not standardized. A 150 in HI is not related to 150 in LV. 100 in HI is actually probably a higher trade power than 150 in LV to make the point. The underlying Marriott season is only applicable as it relates to the other factors of trade power. I can think of several gold weeks that would trade as well, really better, than the best LV week all else equal. II doesn't track view so that doesn't matter for trade power.

Thank you. I am both. We purchased a "week" many years ago then converted to points a few years ago. We can use as a week or as points. At a certain point we need to choose to keep as the week and simply use it or convert to points. The one we deposited was already converted.

It sounds like you deposited a week derived from your points and not a Maui week. If so you likely have a low demand, low power week. Regardless though some resorts, times and areas are simply difficult to get, Maui is at the top of that list. There is modest availability and a ton of demand so lots of other people competing with you and in this case, likely with higher trade power. This is not a first come first serve system but it's based not the trade power and resort quality of the underlying deposit. Thus you could have been on the list for 10 months but someone who placed a request yesterday might jump ahead of you. Your best chance of success is to have the OGS (On Going Search) but also to look online early AM or even several times a day. Your likelihood of a match in this situation is very likely to be under 60 days out.

 

[Pamplemousse]

And my strategy is different than many Tuggers, I don't think deposit, ask for search, and wait is the optimal strategy, at least for me. I may do that, but I'll also manually log into II each day until I am done and look. People say gee, you'll only get leftovers. This is not always the case. Sometimes, things show up that should have matched to someone under various conditions. Also, sometimes, I find something else I didn't ask for which is just as good or even better. You can reserve even if you have a search ongoing. So, I would do both. In general, within 30 days, I always get a match either from the automated search, or my search. For 20 years running. But keep in mind the reasons this works for me are I am not necessarily positively sold on going to a specific resort in a specific time, as I am retired.

I am just saying the concept that only leftovers go into II is definitely untrue.

One man‘s trash is another man’s treasure!
Being open to the possibilities makes things easier.

I do both too.

 

[Ghamrick]

So are you saying you elected your week to points and when the points were about to expire you had mvc convert them to a week to deposit into Interval? If so,what did you deposit- what size and season/tdi? And now you can’t exchange to a Marriott.

Or maybe I’m not understanding you and you mean you deposited your reserved home resort week? I’m not sure what you mean by ‘converted’.

Would DC points be able to trade into Vistana and Westin properties since they are now part of Marriott?

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Thank you for the information. It is too bad Interval provides no similar information and leads people to believe it is possible if not likely they will get their desired trades!

 

[dioxide45]

It sounds like you deposited a week derived from your points and not a Maui week. If so you likely have a low demand, low power week. Regardless though some resorts, times and areas are simply difficult to get, Maui is at the top of that list. There is modest availability and a ton of demand so lots of other people competing with you and in this case, likely with higher trade power. This is not a first come first serve system but it's based not the trade power and resort quality of the underlying deposit. Thus you could have been on the list for 10 months but someone who placed a request yesterday might jump ahead of you. Your best chance of success is to have the OGS (On Going Search) but also to look online early AM or even several times a day. Your likelihood of a match in this situation is very likely to be under 60 days out.

I don't think Marriott deposits a week at all. Don't they use the points and this II chart? If so, the TDI of September in Hawaii is in the 100-110 range. So the OP would need to have at least 2,250 points to secure the trade. How II determines trade power on points is anyone's guess. Do points get trades first, does a week have higher priority or is it based on first come first served?

 

[Ghamrick]

One man‘s trash is another man’s treasure!
Being open to the possibilities makes things easier.

I do both too.

Thanks I will try this if I figure out how.

 

[Ghamrick]

The big variable is will an owner of the week you want deposit it into II, and if they do will you be first in line for it.
There really is no way to know.

I have had many exchanges that were “up grades”- “better” resorts, higher TDI week, larger units. I think a lot of my success has been due to requesting early- I get it in a year or more in advance so when owners start depositing I am there. Marriott priority certainly helps too.

II is not an exact science and there are no guarantees.
And really once you deposit you are not dealing with Marriott anymore It’s II.

Thanks. Right, I totally get it has nothing to do with Marriott now, it is all the Interval system.