Now dual-affiliated so anyone with experience trading Fox Hills in WI through II?

[Lisa P]

I just learned that Fox Hills Resort in Mishicot WI is now dual-affiliated. The new II ID is FHR. Has anyone here tried to deposit a prime week there with II? How did it go? Are you able to see solid exchange power? The website says "limited availability" - naturally, since the majority of owners who exchange have been trading through RCI and they will likely continue to do so for years to come, out of habit.

It's been years since we've had a current membership with II. We have our floating platinum Fox Hills week listed in the Marketplace bargains but now I'm wondering if it's worth the cost to try an experiment, rejoin II to make an II trade, or not. I don't own any other II-eligible weeks. I'm not a fan of joining and paying for another membership without any sense of how it may trade. I don't even know how exchanging through II has or hasn't changed in the last few years!

Any thoughts? Thanks for any help.

 

[jdunn1]

Hi Lisa. I can't comment on your specific resort but with II, your biggest obstacle will not be trade power (sounds like you may have very good trade power), it will be overcoming the various resort brand preference periods that exist in II. For example, Marriott owners get exclusive trade preference for any Marriott week deposited into II for just over a 3 week period (generally). This means that Marriott owners grab the best weeks in II before anyone else who isn't using a Marriott deposit even see it. If your desired trade is during the off season or even shoulder season at some reosorts, you should have no problem getting a good trade in II. If your desired trade is into a Marriott for say a ski week or a summer Carolina week or an island week, then more times than not, you will not have much luck in II.

I guess for any tugger to better help you, we would need to know what your wish list is for trades.

I like II very much. Trading is cheaper and I like the resorts better than in RCI. The downside is that II doesn't seem to get any summer beach weeks for any place other than Florida. The best timeshares, Marriott, Hyatt and Starwood/Westin are nearly impossible for people who do not own those brands to trade into during peak or even near peak times.

 

[Lisa P]

Thanks for your thoughts, jdunn1. I agree that brand-based preferential treatment at II can cause others to be virtually shut out of high season trading into many of the higher-end resorts. This was one reason that we've experienced better trading through RCI. Also, II's U.S. inventory is heavily concentrated in Florida. And while we very much enjoy Florida vacations, we also like to travel around the country and we've found more variety, especially in urban U.S. destinations, in RCI.

I guess I was wondering more about a general trade power standpoint. It's been some years since we've been familiar with II options and trade power issues. Some desirable general destinations in the U.S. which are NOT necessarily only available through the big brand names may include: Hawaii, San Francisco, western ski weeks, southern California or New England beach weeks. Many folks want summer or nearly summer (shoulder) weeks in Europe or winter/spring weeks in the Caribbean. All of these usually require pretty strong traders, regardless of the brands of the resorts involved.

So I'm wondering if anyone here has deposited a summer Wisconsin/midwest Fox Hills week with II. Did it receive an extra exchange voucher (do they still do that for desirable deposits?) or was the deposit able to "see" many of the posted "sightings" at desirable II resorts? Thanks in advance to anyone able to share experiences.