II: Best time to deposit

[Judy]

When RCI published their Trading Power Adjustment Schedule, I was surprised to discover that they give maximum trading power for a deposit as late as 276 days before check-in.
That made me wonder about II. If I remember correctly, long ago Craig, the II rep, told us that the strongest trading power for a deposit was at one year in advance. Since that time, has anyone discovered that this policy has changed? How far in advance must a week be deposited in II now to obtain it's highest possible trading power?

 

[DeniseM]

The down-side to waiting to 12 mos. out to deposit, is that the exchange you want may be deposited before you make your deposit, and you will miss it. To me, that's even more critical.

 

[tashamen]

I never deposit into II more than about 6 months out, unless I have an AC offer that expires before then. I have not noticed much difference in trading power based on time in II.

 

[LLW]

The down-side to waiting to 12 mos. out to deposit, is that the exchange you want may be deposited before you make your deposit, and you will miss it. To me, that's even more critical.

This is a very valid concern. A lot of desirable deposits are made at between 12 to 18 months and disappear as soon as they are deposited. Then again, a lot of great deposits can't be made until around 12 months out, because their owners can't even book their units until then.

II trade power may peak at 12 months, then stay there until about 6 months. The decrease may start at different times for different timeshares, but in many cases may not be significant enough to be noticeable until about 6 months. I have noticed a definite decrease of trade power past 6 months. Since once you deposit, you may not get it back, the maximizing of trade power may be only one of the objectives.

I think you have to study the exchanges that you want and decide when you have the best chance to get them. And study/test/decide when (or if) is the best time to deposit your own week, with maximizing trade power only one of the considerations.

One strategy may be to divorce the timing between the week that you want, and the week that you deposit, by leap-frogging, i.e. get this year's 12-month-vintaged exchange week with last year's deposit, or a different deposit in your portfolio, instead of trying to link weeks of the same year, since their trade power may not peak in sync.

 

[Judy]

One strategy may be to divorce the timing between the week that you want, and the week that you deposit, by leap-frogging, i.e. get this year's 12-month-vintaged exchange week with last year's deposit, or a different deposit in your portfolio, instead of trying to link weeks of the same year, since their trade power may not peak in sync.

That's the strategy I usually use. I still have my 2011 deposit sitting in my account that we won't be using any time soon. So I have no need for an early deposit to snag an exchange. My II affiliated resort is a mediocre trader at best, so I can't afford to let it lose trading power, but I'm required to pay the MF before depositing and I hate to part with that money sooner than I have to.