Interval Eplus -- Observation

[b2bailey]

Recently I exchanged my Gaslamp Plaza studio for last minute Hona Koa 2 BR. I wrote in another post about my surprise at losing my original expiration date for exchage. Decided to bite the bullet today and did first e-plus exchange to furthest out date (01/15/19), as was suggested to push out future date.
When I started the process just now, I was pleasantly surprised by the number/quality of choices that were available to me. Knowing I would not be able to travel for the next several months, I searched instead for the furthest out unit without needing to pay an upgrade fee for larger unit, selecting a Las Vegas studio. Then, did eplus retrade to see what was available with "pushed out" date. I was shocked to see that my choices had significantly 'dwindled'. I used today's date through 3/15/19. It now seems like my first eplus retrade was using the trading power of the 2 BR Maui unit, not my original studio. And now I am seeing results based on lower tier Las Vegas studio -- which is worse than my original San Diego studio.
I am writing this because I thought I had read somewhere that the e-plus retrade carried the trading power of the originally deposited week. Thoughts?

 

[klpca]

I have wondered about this as well. I was trying to push a week out a few months ago (August). I was using an SDO 1 bedroom and had exchanged for a Embarc Palm Desert for Thanksgiving 2019 and added eplus. (FWIW, we are totally good with this week and we will most likely be using this week). But I still look to see what I can see in 2020. Using a different week (the other half of the SDO week) I could see a 2 bed Ridge Tahoe week for mid July - but I could not see it using my eplus week. I wasn't happy about this and if I really wanted that week I would have probably involved Mark Del Campo. In the end I just let it slide because I wasn't truly interested in the exchange but it has bothered me ever since.

 

[djyamyam]

I have had multiple agents in II's customer relations area (more experienced reps) tell me that when you add eplus to an exchange, it reduces the trading power. Whether it reduces the trading power of the original deposit or the latest exchange week, I've never been sure but I do know trading power has generally been lower. So that would coincide with what you're seeing.

 

[klpca]

I have had multiple agents in II's customer relations area (more experienced reps) tell me that when you add eplus to an exchange, it reduces the trading power. Whether it reduces the trading power of the original deposit or the latest exchange week, I've never been sure but I do know trading power has generally been lower. So that would coincide with what you're seeing.

Interesting. I will probably still add it for cheap insurance, but I think that I will try to get my best exchange on the first exchange in the future and not burn the first exchange to maximize my exchange time frame.

 

[b2bailey]

I have had multiple agents in II's customer relations area (more experienced reps) tell me that when you add eplus to an exchange, it reduces the trading power. Whether it reduces the trading power of the original deposit or the latest exchange week, I've never been sure but I do know trading power has generally been lower. So that would coincide with what you're seeing.

I am very disappointed with the current status of my week. I had considered contacting the II rep. Does someone have that email address handy?

 

[tschwa2]

Interesting. I will probably still add it for cheap insurance, but I think that I will try to get my best exchange on the first exchange in the future and not burn the first exchange to maximize my exchange time frame.

I've had it happen to me, a few years back, but luckily it was my original exchange and I was able to cancel it and refund the exchange and the eplus. I was not within the 60 days but my week was expiring in about 4 months so I wanted to extend the week so I exchanged out as far as I could go. I think I went with a studio in Vegas with a Monday check in. I think it was a glitch (but with II glitches happen more than you would think). You are supposed to retain your original trading value of your deposited week. After that, even when making a placeholder reservation with eplus, I always make sure it is the best possible exchange (size, season, and quality) even if I give up a week or two in the deal, I do it that way just in case.

 

[b2bailey]

I've had it happen to me, a few years back, but luckily it was my original exchange and I was able to cancel it and refund the exchange and the eplus. I was not within the 60 days but my week was expiring in about 4 months so I wanted to extend the week so I exchanged out as far as I could go. I think I went with a studio in Vegas with a Monday check in. I think it was a glitch (but with II glitches happen more than you would think). You are supposed to retain your original trading value of your deposited week. After that, even when making a placeholder reservation with eplus, I always make sure it is the best possible exchange (size, season, and quality) even if I give up a week or two in the deal, I do it that way just in case.

Yes, exactly my point. There was an Aviara studio with an earlier date I would have chosen instead.

 

[klpca]

I am very disappointed with the current status of my week. I had considered contacting the II rep. Does someone have that email address handy?

https://tugbbs.com/forums/index.php...s-direct-email-for-tug-member-support.198023/

 

[b2bailey]

Just wanted to close this story. I sent email and received a call from Mark DelCampo. He is a very nice man, and I was amazed to learn he has been with II for nearly (or was it more than?) 25 years.

He wasn't able to do anything to help me in this situation, but he pointed out that I could have used the 24-hour grace period to cancel after learning airfare was going to be impossible. I had forgotten that option was available.

Also, he INSISTS the week carries its original exchange power throughout the e-plus transactions.

There is one thing he said that seems confusing/incorrect. I most often do a search showing all destinations during a time period. Then, when I see what is available, I click on that destination area to see what comes up. According to Mark, if I enter a specific destination at the start of my search, I may see something for that specific area which did not appear using my method of searching 'all destinations'. How can this be?

Has anyone ever encountered this?

 

[dioxide45]

There is one thing he said that seems confusing/incorrect. I most often do a search showing all destinations during a time period. Then, when I see what is available, I click on that destination area to see what comes up. According to Mark, if I enter a specific destination at the start of my search, I may see something for that specific area which did not appear using my method of searching 'all destinations'. How can this be?

I recall people reporting issues with this. It was recommended to try to always search using resort codes vs destinations. That is how we do all of our searches and rarely have issues.