Interval Lock-Off Trading Power

[lauty1981]

So I am in the market for my first timeshare and have been doing a lot of research on these forums. A questions I have is do I lose a lot of trading power when I split a lock-off into smaller units? I am looking mostly at the Grande Vista and our main goal is to use the resort to trade into two weeks worth of 2 bedroom vacations. When I run the costs it is less annually to buy the 2 bedroom lockoff and pay upgrade fees on both lockoff units then to buy a 3 bedroom and pay upgrade fees on one lockoff unit. My concern is if my trading potential is limited by going to 1 bedroom/Studio vs 2 bedroom/Studio or does paying the upgrade fee negate that? I should also add we have school age children so we are limited to prime vacation weeks. Below is the cost analysis to show the savings I'm referring to. One last question I have is do all marriott resorts have the same trading power? Or should I focus on "elite" resorts and stay away from "gold" resorts like Harbour Lake. If there is anything I'm missing please let me know.

Fees	3Bd Lock off	2bd Lock off
Maintenance Fee	1950​	1450​
Exchange Fee Room 1	159​	159​
Exchange Fee Room 2	159​	159​
Room Upgrade 1	0​	99​
Room Upgrade 2	198​	198​
Total Cost	2466​	2065​

 

[dioxide45]

I don't think the moniker in II really matters that much. We see about the same trading power with our Harbour Lake week as we do Grande Vista. You are missing the lock off fee in your list of costs, as well as the II annual membership fee.

 

[tschwa2]

the trouble with your trading power into a 2 BR is going to be more pronounced with the studio side which you would have with either purchase. I wouldn't expect to get a prime time 2 BR with a studio in anywhere other than Branson, Orlando, and Williamsburg. It also depends on where you are looking to go. While a 1 BR might get you a 2BR in Hawaii or SC (oceanfront resort) during the summer, there are going to be a lot of folks with more trading power ahead of you in line so you might put in a request a year plus in advance and not be confirmed until 2 months prior if at all. Having Marriott priority isn't a magic wand that gets you whatever you want during summer and week 51/52.

 

[jyatl]

I'm a new owner since this Jan so don't have a whole lot of experience. But I did just do the exact thing. I locked off my DSVII and traded into 2 weeks. I think tschwa2 is exactly right. Don't expect anything desirable (combination of location and season/specific week) for the studio, and count on reasonable chance of trading into a 2BR with the 1BR side. I was able to get St Kitts 2BR over Thanksgiving (not high demand week) for the 1BR, but studio hardly found anything good, let alone 2BR. I did get a 1BR in Lake Tahoe over Christmas/NYE for skiing that I wanted. I have school age children as well so am bound to school calendar. So I think you can get 2 weeks out of a good lock off week, just have very realistic expectations.

 

[GetawaysRus]

Trading in Interval International is like a treasure hunt inside a black box. I use the term black box because the rules that govern the trading power of your deposit are not fully known.

In any event, you are missing a few other important costs. First, there's the cost of purchasing ePlus so you can retrade if needed. With our Marriott studio deposit, I do find it easier to trade into a 1BR and then keep searching so that I can hopefully use ePlus to retrade into a 2BR is one becomes available. That's easier for us because we travel just as 2 adults, and often travel when kids are in school, but it will be harder for you if you are traveling with children and are looking for trades that match with the school schedule. However, if you would purchase ePlus regardless so that you have the ability to reschedule, then this cost is equivalent on both sides of your ledger.

The other very important cost you are missing is the cost of your time. I think that typically one partner does all the travel planning. For us, that's me, and I don't mind the time and effort because I view our vacations as my gift to my wife. But using Interval can be quite time consuming and sometimes frustrating. If I'm hoping to do an ePlus retrade into a larger unit or a better resort, I'll often search Interval both morning and night on a daily basis. It can take weeks or even months and then magically, one day, my treasure hunt is rewarded.

So I credit you for being analytical. But my opinion is that you shouldn't "cheap out" and just go for the lowest cost. For a $400 annual difference in fees, and given that you have kids, wish to travel during high demand seasons, have a very busy family life (a pretty safe assumption), frankly I suspect that the time/effort/frustration savings when trading with the 3BR LO might be your better bet if the goal is trading as often as possible into a 2BR. Vacations are costly. For me at least, a $400 cost difference is not huge compared to what we might spend on our vacations.

We bought a resale Grand Chateau week a few years ago. I read the TUG threads discussing the pros and cons of a 3BR versus a 2BR purchase. In the end, I went with a 3BR. Having made the purchase, I don't look back.

 

[AlmostRetired]

Up until this year, I was tied to a school schedule a long time (1995). I only have experience with the Grand Chateau so for this discussion I am Taking an agnostic view of the trading power of any one resort assuming they all trade the same. I would go with the 3 bedroom if you consistently need 2 bedroom trades.

With the 2 bedroom side you can put in a exchange request and let the system work. This will allow you to plan months in advance. My 2 bedroom exchanged into the Grande Ocean in October is 2021 for July of 2022. The one bedroom exchanged into the MGO a month later. If the one bedroom didn’t, I would have used instant exchange, which is an immediate view of what is available sometime beginning in February.

If you get a 2 bedroom the splits into a studio and 1 bedroom, the studio will be impossible to trade into a 2 bedroom using an exchange request for when school it out. You will need to use instant exchange and grab the best available trade you can get based on what you see and use Eplus to improve your hand. I got great trades with my studio when I owed a 2 bedroom lockout so it is a viable strategy that works. You just have to work harder to get what you want and be more flexible. The one bedroom of each lockout will trade the same.

It wasn’t until recently I moved to the 3 bedroom that I appreciate the difference. The ability to lock in a trade and take advantage of airfares will more than make up price difference in year one. If you drive, in my opinion locking in an exchange earlier is worth piece of mind.

But to be clear, if you go with the 2 bedroom and willing to put in the work, it could work.

 

[jyatl]

I'm a new owner since this Jan so don't have a whole lot of experience. But I did just do the exact thing. I locked off my DSVII and traded into 2 weeks. I think tschwa2 is exactly right. Don't expect anything desirable (combination of location and season/specific week) for the studio, and count on reasonable chance of trading into a 2BR with the 1BR side. I was able to get St Kitts 2BR over Thanksgiving (not high demand week) for the 1BR, but studio hardly found anything good, let alone 2BR. I did get a 1BR in Lake Tahoe over Christmas/NYE for skiing that I wanted. I have school age children as well so am bound to school calendar. So I think you can get 2 weeks out of a good lock off week, just have very realistic expectations.

BTW let me correct myself, as I just looked at my history again. I actually traded the studio to the 2BR in Marriott St Kitts, and 1BR for 1BR at Olympic Village. So the studio did work out very well.

 

[Huskerpaul]

So there are just two of us but we are tied to school breaks because one teaches. Does it make sense to upgrade our new Grande Vista studio to a 2 bedroom for trading power if I want studios and/or one bedrooms in Hawaii in the summer?

 

[VacationForever]

It depends on which flavor of the month II decides to assign trade power. Several years before II introduced size upgrade fees, studios couldn't pull 2BR in desirable resorts and seasons. After II introduced size upgrade fees, my studios started seeing alot more. This year, the studio sees very few 2BRs in highly desirable resorts and seasons again. It would be wise to lower your expectations as to what the studio will pull. All my weeks are in the red/platinum season.

 

[GraceH]

As a 14yr user of II trades (perhaps considered a novice in comparison to some of our Tug veterans), I agree wholeheartedly with all the generous advice given by those who took the time to impart their wisdom onto you lauty1981.

I have a 2BR lockoff that I usually split when trading in II, but I’ve rarely gotten a larger unit than what I’ve put in unless I’m doing the treasure hunt on my own like others have mentioned.
I did get a 2BR Waiohai for my studio this year (system matched), but I’m traveling end of August when most kids are back in school so it’s still possible, just a bit more difficult during high seasons especially at desirable resorts.

 

[10spro]

I have a 2BR lockoff that I usually split when trading in II, but I’ve rarely gotten a larger unit than what I’ve put in unless I’m doing the treasure hunt on my own like others have mentioned.

Same here, except that I am a treasure hunter, and always trade my Studio for a larger unit, almost always exclusively in Hawaii. If you are so inclined to learn the II trading strategies, it's worth playing the game.

 

[frank808]

In 13 years of trading, I have always been able to get an upsize trade into MKO. Studios to at least 1br but usually 2br. 99% of my exchanges is through II through instant exchanges(with generous help of fellow Tuggers). Most weeks of the year but weeks 51 and 52 are a lot harder.

I have a slight advantage as I am local here to MKO and can go at a moments notice. Trades morning of check in was more prevalent before DC inception. Since then it has been at the latest a few days from checkin.

 

[Dean]

So I am in the market for my first timeshare and have been doing a lot of research on these forums. A questions I have is do I lose a lot of trading power when I split a lock-off into smaller units? I am looking mostly at the Grande Vista and our main goal is to use the resort to trade into two weeks worth of 2 bedroom vacations. When I run the costs it is less annually to buy the 2 bedroom lockoff and pay upgrade fees on both lockoff units then to buy a 3 bedroom and pay upgrade fees on one lockoff unit. My concern is if my trading potential is limited by going to 1 bedroom/Studio vs 2 bedroom/Studio or does paying the upgrade fee negate that? I should also add we have school age children so we are limited to prime vacation weeks. Below is the cost analysis to show the savings I'm referring to. One last question I have is do all marriott resorts have the same trading power? Or should I focus on "elite" resorts and stay away from "gold" resorts like Harbour Lake. If there is anything I'm missing please let me know.

Fees	3Bd Lock off	2bd Lock off
Maintenance Fee	1950​	1450​
Exchange Fee Room 1	159​	159​
Exchange Fee Room 2	159​	159​
Room Upgrade 1	0​	99​
Room Upgrade 2	198​	198​
Total Cost	2466​	2065​

I think any of the usual trading resorts (Platinum at GV, HL, GC, Willow Ridge & ? Manor Club Sequel) will get you about the same thing assuming you get a good week and deposit a year out also requesting a full year out. My sense is there is some difference in there though in terms of trade power (just thinking 2 BR units and L/O) with GV being the best and the others roughly the same. Ultimately it depends on what you want to trade for. For places that are easy to trade to like Orlando, your plan should work fine. It might work for other locations, like Ko Olina, it might not consistently for 2 BR units. It will likely not work for places like MB, Aruba, Maui, HHI or similar. You may want to consider two 2 BR units that can be reserved consecutively or concurrently. IMO that's usually better than getting a 3 BR units, esp at GV. Other variables are whether there is a resort you might use without exchanging, budget and whether you might later upgrade and possible enroll the week with a retail purchase.

 

[pinetree1]

I read all TUG trading power discussion and did my own analysis between Grand Vista Platinum and Shadow Ridge Enclave Deluxe.

Grande Vista 2 bedroom, if w Florida Club option, can be used to exchange into other resorts within the club, especially Beach Club at Ft Lauderdale and Ocean Pointe at Palm Beach. However, there are so many Ocean Pointe studio units are Oni Interval. I am not sure about value of studio of Ocean Pointe.

Shadow Ridge Enclave Deluxe can be locked off into 2 1-bedroom unit. The Platinum covers winter, early spring except week 52. If not used for trading, we can use ourselves for warm weather.

I think that Enclave deluxe is another option for consideration.

 

[Dean]

I read all TUG trading power discussion and did my own analysis between Grand Vista Platinum and Shadow Ridge Enclave Deluxe.

Grande Vista 2 bedroom, if w Florida Club option, can be used to exchange into other resorts within the club, especially Beach Club at Ft Lauderdale and Ocean Pointe at Palm Beach. However, there are so many Ocean Pointe studio units are Oni Interval. I am not sure about value of studio of Ocean Pointe.

Shadow Ridge Enclave Deluxe can be locked off into 2 1-bedroom unit. The Platinum covers winter, early spring except week 52. If not used for trading, we can use ourselves for warm weather.

I think that Enclave deluxe is another option for consideration.

While I didn't add it here since the OP was asking specifically related to GV, I'd often stated that the CA desert options can be a good choice if one can get them cheaply enough. It is worth noting the fees are quite a bit higher, esp considering that taxes are charged separately as well. For one who can use it part of the time, that is a plus for any possible resort.

I feel one of the more important aspects for those planning their initial MVC journey is looking into the future. This would include considering other possible future purchases, future usage and possible enrollment later. Esp important for those that might add to their MVC ownership later is considering the seasons of the current purchase compared to a possible future purchase(s).

The way II's trade power works, I'm not sure that Ocean Ponte having studios present online means much other than it's a season area. It's a fairly large resort and all units are lock off's so lots of studios available. II doesn't assign trade power on a resort by resort basis though they do rate the resorts resort by resort.