Interval Guest Certificate

[10spro]

I traded my Marriott DSV-I for Marriott Summit Watch and now I can't go. I could play the re-trade game, but am within a few weeks of arrival, so can only book out 60 days, and inventory is limited, so thought I might keep it and try out renting the week. It would be my first time renting. When I went into Interval to investigate adding a Guest Certificate, it says that I can't sell it for cash. Does that mean I can't rent my week this way?

 

[bazzap]

I traded my Marriott DSV-I for Marriott Summit Watch and now I can't go. I could play the re-trade game, but am within a few weeks of arrival, so can only book out 60 days, and inventory is limited, so thought I might keep it and try out renting the week. It would be my first time renting. When I went into Interval to investigate adding a Guest Certificate, it says that I can't sell it for cash. Does that mean I can't rent my week this way?

That is correct, you can gift Interval exchanges and getaways to family and friends.
Their Ts & Cs do not allow selling (renting) these for cash.

 

[Theiggy]

You can post it here on the Distressed forum.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[davidvel]

That is correct, you can gift Interval exchanges and getaways to family and friends.
Their Ts & Cs do not allow selling (renting) these for cash.

You can actually gift them to anyone, not just family and friends.

Interval makes the rules and you agreed to them; there are scattered reports of reservations being canceled if II learns of a rental.

That being said if you have a close friend or family who understands the rules, wouldn't plan on telling anyone they "rented", and you gift it to them and they gift you something back in appreciation, well...

 

[TravelTime]

If you charge the guest the amount of your costs, would that be considered renting? How is II wording this?

 

[10spro]

If you charge the guest the amount of your costs, would that be considered renting? How is II wording this?

Below is from the Interval site. Does not seem like there is any way around it. So I guess I'll just do the re-trade game a few times.

Guest Certificate
Individuals under the age of 21 are not eligible to receive a Guest Certificate.

Additionally, the issuance of a Guest Certificate and the use of the Host Accommodations are subject to any restrictions or limitations that may be imposed by the Host Resort. Members are expressly prohibited from selling or exchanging a Guest Certificate for cash, barter, or other consideration. In the event that any of the above terms are breached, II reserves the right to revoke the Guest Certificate.

 

[Dean]

If you charge the guest the amount of your costs, would that be considered renting? How is II wording this?

Technically any charge to the other party would be a rental even if it's just your direct cost. You may be able to get around some of those by having a third party pay the charges directly themselves.

 

[TravelTime]

Would it be considered renting if the person I am “gifting” the week to is reimbursing some of my costs, not technically renting the week? I guess I could call II and ask as well.

 

[dioxide45]

Would it be considered renting if the person I am “gifting” the week to is reimbursing some of my costs, not technically renting the week? I guess I could call II and ask as well.

II considers it such. If any money changes hands, II may take issue with it. If you want your guest to pay for fees, then you can have them pay those fees with their credit card as you are confirming the exchange or getaway. For the few getaways we have booked for friends where they were paying, we used their credit card when making the booking.

 

[TravelTime]

II considers it such. If any money changes hands, II may take issue with it. If you want your guest to pay for fees, then you can have them pay those fees with their credit card as you are confirming the exchange or getaway. For the few getaways we have booked for friends where they were paying, we used their credit card when making the booking.

I already paid all the fees with my credit card. This was an exchange week not a getaway. Now we are debating if we want to go or not. I already used my 3 ePlus exchanges. If I called II to extend the use of the week, I would need to pay another membership fee since mine expires in February.
- Do they charge to extend the week?
- The reservation is for Christmas week so I would be asking for an extension with less than 30 days notice. Would it be restricted in some way since I would be giving such short notice?

 

[dioxide45]

I already paid all the fees with my credit card. This was an exchange week not a getaway. Now we are debating if we want to go or not. I already used my 3 ePlus exchanges. If I called II to extend the use of the week, I would need to pay another membership fee since mine expires in February.
- Do they charge to extend the week?
- The reservation is for Christmas week so I would be asking for an extension with less than 30 days notice. Would it be restricted in some way since I would be giving such short notice?

At this point with all three ePLus retrades burnt, one option is a full fee retrade which would be limited to 59 day flexchange searches and also the original deposit expiration. Another option is to cancel and take a cancellation replacement, it too would be 59 day flexchange restricted. Your option of giving it to someone and having them reimburse you would only be something I would consider a close friend or family member and that they know it is on the "down low". At checkin, no discussion of renting the week or paying for the week or any other talk about money exchanging hands should happen. The resort usually won't care, but it isn't worth the risk. The guest can't call II and ask questions. Publicly listing this week is not advisable. If anything, put it up in the Distressed forum, people there know the unwritten "rules".

 

[Dean]

Would it be considered renting if the person I am “gifting” the week to is reimbursing some of my costs, not technically renting the week? I guess I could call II and ask as well.

As noted, yes. RCI will semi officially allow reimbursement of the exchange and guest certificate fee, II does not from what I've seen.

 

[TravelTime]

I looked at the rules and it said something about personal and non-commercial use. This is the same thing Marriott says about renting out your weeks but they are fine with renting it out to reimburse costs and even earn a little extra. So I wonder if it is non-commercial use if II would really care. With such a short time frame for check in, I doubt anyone would even want it but I am curious about the clear rules on this. I am going to call them and double check out of curiosity of what they will say.

 

[dioxide45]

I looked at the rules and it said something about personal and non-commercial use. This is the same thing Marriott says about renting out your weeks but they are fine with renting it out to reimburse costs and even earn a little extra. So I wonder if it is non-commercial use if II would really care. With such a short time frame for check in, I doubt anyone would even want it but I am curious about the clear rules on this. I am going to call them and double check out of curiosity of what they will say.

II has cared, we have seen it based on owner experiences here on TUG. One person gave a week away on a Facebook group and had costs reimbursed. That guest called II to ask questions or something (or perhaps rat them out) and II took issue with it. The owner's account was locked and they were forced to reimburse monies paid and still give use of the week to the guest. Your risks are low that you could get caught, but if you are advertising it anywhere, even for just reimbursement of costs, then you run the risk of having a locked II account.

 

[jwalk03]

Would it be considered renting if the person I am “gifting” the week to is reimbursing some of my costs, not technically renting the week? I guess I could call II and ask as well.

As long as you are not advertising it for rent, you should be fine. How would II ever know that you friend gave you some money for the week you gifted to them?

 

[dioxide45]

As long as you are not advertising it for rent, you should be fine. How would II ever know that you friend gave you some money for the week you gifted to them?

I am getting the impression that it isn't a friend. As in the case of the Facebook "gift", they still found out.

 

[VacationForever]

It is against the rules of II to rent an exchange, end of story. If your original week is enrolled, then you can keep re-trading for free until the 2-year expiration from the date of the original reservation of the deposit. I did that last year and finally re-traded into Four Seasons Aviara (2BR) within 60 days of travel.

 

[SueDonJ]

It is against the rules of II to rent an exchange, end of story. If your original week is enrolled, then you can keep re-trading for free until the 2-year expiration from the date of the original reservation of the deposit. I did that last year and finally re-traded into Four Seasons Aviara (2BR) within 60 days of travel.

It's more than just, "against the rules of II to rent an exchange" though, isn't it? The rule is in post #6 and is clear, II members are "expressly prohibited from selling or exchanging a Guest Certificate for cash, barter, or other consideration." How much clearer can it be?

Sure, some people have figured out how to skirt the rule but that doesn't mean the rule doesn't exist. Being compensated in any way for an II Guest Cert comes with a risk, and those who have been caught by II and shared their stories on TUG weren't able to convince II that the rule somehow doesn't apply to those simply collecting the Guest Cert fee from the user.

 

[timsi]

It would be interesting to know how much money Interval makes renting inventory.

 

[Dean]

It would be interesting to know how much money Interval makes renting inventory.

Why would it matter? We agree to that ability when we deposit as well as the restriction on any type of renting.

 

[timsi]

Exchange & Third-Party Management

Rental revenue

2019 – 61 million dollars

2020 – 37 million dollars

2021 - 40 million dollars

 

[dioxide45]

Exchange & Third-Party Management

Rental revenue

2019 – 61 million dollars

2020 – 37 million dollars

2021 - 40 million dollars

Third party management also includes Aqua Aston. Their whole business is renting hotel rooms.

 

[TravelTime]

I am not going to “rent” the week. I am not a rule breaker. Check-in is in less than 30 days anyway. I have been debating ever since I deposited the week a couple of years ago as to whether I would find a compelling exchange. I do not use II for exactly this reason. I have been unsuccessful with it. The only thing I have had success with is using points with Marriott Vacation Club.

OTOH, many people are breaking the rules about commercial use with their “owned” weeks. An example is buying up more weeks than they can ever use and putting them on Redweek to try to make thousands extra per week. Then turn around and use the cash to rent a week elsewhere. Or just turn renting timeshares into a business. To me, that is clearly against the rules and really they should get their weeks shut down entirely.

 

[Dean]

I am not going to “rent” the week. I am not a rule breaker. Check-in is in less than 30 days anyway. I have been debating ever since I deposited the week a couple of years ago as to whether I would find a compelling exchange. I do not use II for exactly this reason. I have been unsuccessful with it. The only thing I have had success with is using points with Marriott Vacation Club.

Commendable

OTOH, many people are breaking the rules about commercial use with their “owned” weeks. An example is buying up more weeks than they can ever use and putting them on Redweek to try to make thousands extra per week. Then turn around and use the cash to rent a week elsewhere. Or just turn renting timeshares into a business. To me, that is clearly against the rules and really they should get their weeks shut down entirely.

That's not the way I read the rules or look at timeshares. Owning a week and renting it out is expressly allowed. Profit on a given rental would not be part of the equation. Short of a storefront situation or a commercial type website (or similar), I would not see this as commercial and thus within the rules. Obviously volume and consistency would come into play as well. For points it's far more restrictive because they are truly exchanges even if internal plus the rules there are not as rental friendly. While there is some money to be made here, I really don't think it's enough to justify the risk of owning extra weeks specifically for that purpose anyway. Long term it's just not likely to work out as well for them as other investments.

 

[timsi]

Third party management also includes Aqua Aston. Their whole business is renting hotel rooms.

If Marriott does not own the Aqua Aston inventory, likely it only takes a small cut of actual rental revenue. The Interval getaway inventory is a different story, they do not have to share with anyone else.