Interval Platinum discount hotel benefit

[Tcbmcb5]

I am new to the timeshare world and have a basic 1 year Interval membership. I do take short road trips throughout the year and was wondering if upgrading to Platinum would be worth it to get discounted hotel rates. For any Tuggers who have Platinum, is it a real worthwhile discount or is it negligible? Also, does Interval ever offer a free trial upgrade to basic members? Thanks!!

 

[Shankilicious]

No free trial membership. I think the discounts on getaways and bonus weeks will make it worth it. Never used the hotel exchange but I know it's not worth it, points to dollars.

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[pedro47]

I used Platinum Getaways for extra families vacation time.
It is worth it for us, yes because we travel off peak seasons vacation time.

 

[dougp26364]

I haven’t taken out a higher level program like platinum for many years. The reason being that the hotel discount was never really a discount I couldn’t find somewhere else nor did I ever find any real savings on hotels alone and we don’t buy Getaway deals. They generally quote their hotel discount against the hotel rack rate. Who pays the rack rate?

Most of the time I found booking direct with hotels has worked best and generally delivers the best rate. Presently we’ve stuck with Marriott and Hilton for the general quality (not all hotels with any system are equal) and thei loyalty programs.

Now if you want to use the the exchange company for extra vacations and you buy a few getaways each year, then you’ll probably recover your cost pretty easily. If your upgrading just for the hotel discount I’d recommend you pass on the offer. Not allowing g a trial period where you can actually test the “discount” in real time should be a big red flag IMHO

 

[mdurette]

I am new to the timeshare world and have a basic 1 year Interval membership. I do take short road trips throughout the year and was wondering if upgrading to Platinum would be worth it to get discounted hotel rates. For any Tuggers who have Platinum, is it a real worthwhile discount or is it negligible? Also, does Interval ever offer a free trial upgrade to basic members? Thanks!!

I assume you are referencing their "up to 70% off hotel bookings" benefit. I have checked it out a couple of times, but have never found anything worth doing. But, I will admit we don't stay in hotel booking rooms often and when we do it is typically paid for via a rewards point system.

As others have mentioned, Platinum is typically worth it if you will be buying getaways from them and/or using guest certificates for family/friends. And even at that, no need to upgrade until you actually need to use the benefit.

 

[pedro47]

We have never used the hotel discount option. It is better to book directly with the hotel of your choice.

 

[dioxide45]

II used Priceline's booking system for hotel bookings. Any hotel reservation will be considered a third party booking and usually not eligible for hotel loyalty programs/perks. That said, here is a quick test I did for a couple hotels in Orlando. It looks like prices on the Platinum account are cheaper than the standard account. Though it also looks like you can book for close to or even less by going direct to Priceline.com.

Platinum II Account;

Basic II Account;

Priceline.com

 

[tschwa2]

I often (but not always) find when I comparison shop that the hotel booking through my II platinum has lower rates. Not big enough that I would upgrade for that reason but often $5-20 per night cheaper.

 

[HudsHut]

We used the Interval hotel booking website last summer to stay at Universal’s Endless Summer Resort – Surfside Inn and Suites
That hotel gave us early entry into Universal Studios Orlando. The reservation through II was about $10 less/day than any other website we search.
This resort also had a shuttle bus to the park entrance, so we didn't need to drive over, wait to pay for parking, and go around and around the parking structure to find a spot.

 

[marmite]

I had platinum up until the end of August and let it lapse, the Priceline hotel discounts are not worth it. They will mark a few hotels as being a "special discount", but these are named hotels (you can tell what they are) and they don't offer substantial savings over what the external Priceline website does. The real value in Priceline lies in being able to take their unnamed hotels at a significant discount (you only know the neighbourhood and star level). There is a way to figure out what hotel it is before you book, and I go this route. I picked up an extra night for Westin Nanea in September, to make my last holiday an 8 night stay. I only paid for a 1 Bedroom (hundreds less than the rate on Marriott.com) and then Nanea gave me a 2 Bedroom on check-in. I don't expect this to happen all the time, but if you know your way around Priceline and Hotwire, those offers via the II website pale in comparison.