Please help me do my first trade

[myoakley]

I own an EOY platinum ocean front 1 bedroom Marriott Kauai Beach Club which I used in Mar. 2011. My next usage is in 2013. I would like to try to reserve a high demand summer week (July) which I will have to do 12 mos. ahead. I would then like to trade it for 1 week in Marriott's Aruba Ocean Club or Surf Club or Marriott's St. Kitts or Marriott's Frenchman's Cove St. Thomas at a less desirable time - maybe April or May. (My husband and I are retired and can travel almost any time.) I have been reading posts and trying to educate myself for over a year, but I still need help in the logistics of the thing. My questions:

1) When do I have to join Interval? And do I need a 1-yr. or 2-yr. membership to do this trade?

2) Can I see availability at different timeshares for different times of the year before I am an Interval member?

3) Why do I see in some posts that people have put in requests at 14-15 mos. out? I thought you could not reserve earlier than 12 mos. (or 13 mos. if you are a multiple week owner.) Can you put in a request without first having reserved your own week?

4) Is there a chance that my 1 bedroom at a high demand week could pull a 2-bedroom at a lower demand week at the resorts mentioned?

I would be very grateful if any of the expert Tug traders could walk me through the steps I need to take and the order in which to take them.
Thank you in advance.

 

[NJMOM2]

See answers in Red below.

I own an EOY platinum ocean front 1 bedroom Marriott Kauai Beach Club which I used in Mar. 2011. My next usage is in 2013. I would like to try to reserve a high demand summer week (July) which I will have to do 12 mos. ahead. I would then like to trade it for 1 week in Marriott's Aruba Ocean Club or Surf Club or Marriott's St. Kitts or Marriott's Frenchman's Cove St. Thomas at a less desirable time - maybe April or May. (My husband and I are retired and can travel almost any time.) I have been reading posts and trying to educate myself for over a year, but I still need help in the logistics of the thing. My questions:

1) When do I have to join Interval? And do I need a 1-yr. or 2-yr. membership to do this trade? You have to join Interval before you can deposit your week. Interval has to confirm you own the week you say you own. When I added OceanWatch it was done while I was on the phone with the II Marriott representative. I don't know if that is the normal but I would start by calling the II Marriott Desk to sign up for Interval. You cannot request past the end of your membership. If you want to request more than 12 ahead you have to sign up for two years

2) Can I see availability at different timeshares for different times of the year before I am an Interval member? No. You have to be a member and either to a mock search (that is another lession) or have a week on deposit.

3) Why do I see in some posts that people have put in requests at 14-15 mos. out? I thought you could not reserve earlier than 12 mos. (or 13 mos. if you are a multiple week owner.) Can you put in a request without first having reserved your own week? You can request 12 months prior to your deposited check in date up to 24 months past it - for a 3 year window.

4) Is there a chance that my 1 bedroom at a high demand week could pull a 2-bedroom at a lower demand week at the resorts mentioned? Definately.

I would be very grateful if any of the expert Tug traders could walk me through the steps I need to take and the order in which to take them.
Thank you in advance. Sorry can't help you on this on at the moment. Someone recently posted a link to a thread that show pictures of each step in the exchange process. I will see if I can find it.

Here is it I found it. The link was in FAQ's.

http://www.tugbbs.com/forums/showthread.php?t=92689

 

[m61376]

You cannot place an ongoing request for a larger sized unit than you are depositing unless the requested resort only has larger sized units.

You should reserve a high demand week for your owned week before depositing. Frenchman's cove and St. Kitts do not have lock off units, so you can request a 2BR and since you are looking for a bit of an off season week, you should be able to make the trade, especially if you place the request a year in advance and you give a wide range of acceptable weeks. For the Aruba resorts, you will have to place a request in for a 1BR, and you can keep on looking online to see if a 2BR pops up for you to exchange for. Likely a strong Kaui 1BR will "see" the 2BR, especially closer in, but you will have to see it to book larger than a 1BR.

 

[myoakley]

NJMOM and m61376

Thank you so much for your replies. The link to the step-by-step process for making a trade is great. I really appreciate your help since I have never done this before and am new to timesharing. I find the whole thing very intimidating and can understand why some owners who can't travel to their timeshares wind up not using them. One more question: should I join Interval now or wait closer to the time I reserve my Marriott week (which I plan to do the beginning of July)?

 

[NJMOM2]

I wouldn't wait until the last minute to join Interval - it might take some time set up the account and verify the resort ownership. You can call Interval to get a better idea of how long the whole process will take.

Another thought is, if you join Interval sooner you will be able to get a Getaway vacations. Perhaps find something this summer 2012 if you haven't made any plans yet. Most likely you will have to pay for at least two years of membership to complete your 2013 summer trade.

 

[myoakley]

Another question:

When I do "request first" (I am going to try to reserve a summer week which I have to wait 12 mos. out to do), how does Interval know the value of the week I am going to deposit? Doesn't the strength of my week make a difference in what I can request?

Thanks again.

 

[BJRSanDiego]

strength of week matters

Another question:

When I do "request first" (I am going to try to reserve a summer week which I have to wait 12 mos. out to do), how does Interval know the value of the week I am going to deposit? Doesn't the strength of my week make a difference in what I can request?

Thanks again.

Yes, the strength of your week does matter.

When you do a request first, you have to tell them the exact date of the week that you are planning on trading. They will also ask for a reservation number. They will also require a credit card for prepaying. If they find something that meets your request criteria, they will automatically make the exchange and send you a confirmation email. You have 24 hours to cancel. If you don't read your email the exchange still occurs automatically. If you cancel or if they can't find a match, you can request your money back.

If you do a manual search to see what is available after they've done their daily match up of requests with inventory, you will still need to provide a reservation number (8 digits starting with the number 8 seems to work for the purposes of just looking, hint hint). But you don't need to provide a credit card for just looking.

 

[m61376]

And make sure you constantly check your account, because sometimes they confirm your request but there is a delay in notification, and you have 24 hours from the time of the exchange, not from the time of notification, to cancel if you change your mind.

 

[myoakley]

OK. But, then why do I read on some posts that people have put in their requests 14-16 mos. ahead of time. How can they know the week they will deposit if you can only reserve your week 12 mos. out (or 13 mos. if you own multiple weeks)?

 

[NJMOM2]

You can deposit your reservation 12 to 13 months in advance - as soon as you make your reservation.

You can request 12 months ahead of your deposited reservation and up to 24 months after (3 year window to use deposit) BUT no more than 24 months from the current date.

 

[aka Julie]

OK. But, then why do I read on some posts that people have put in their requests 14-16 mos. ahead of time. How can they know the week they will deposit if you can only reserve your week 12 mos. out (or 13 mos. if you own multiple weeks)?

You might have a deposited week from the previous year. For instance, I own 3 weeks and have a 2011 week deposited with II. I could use that to request an exchange for say June 2013 and be first in line for when II gets those deposits.