• The TUGBBS forums are completely free and open to the public and exist as the absolute best place for owners to get help and advice about their timeshares for more than 30 years!

    Join Tens of Thousands of other Owners just like you here to get any and all Timeshare questions answered 24 hours a day!
  • TUG started 31 years ago in October 1993 as a group of regular Timeshare owners just like you!

    Read about our 31st anniversary: Happy 31st Birthday TUG!
  • TUG has a YouTube Channel to produce weekly short informative videos on popular Timeshare topics!

    Free memberships for every 50 subscribers!

    Visit TUG on Youtube!
  • TUG has now saved timeshare owners more than $24,000,000 dollars just by finding us in time to rescind a new Timeshare purchase! A truly incredible milestone!

    Read more here: TUG saves owners more than $24 Million dollars
  • Sign up to get the TUG Newsletter for free!

    Tens of thousands of subscribing owners! A weekly recap of the best Timeshare resort reviews and the most popular topics discussed by owners!
  • Our official "end my sales presentation early" T-shirts are available again! Also come with the option for a free membership extension with purchase to offset the cost!

    All T-shirt options here!
  • A few of the most common links here on the forums for newbies and guests!

What are the chances of getting Hawaii?

L

LDT

newbie
Joined
Feb 6, 2007
Messages
147
Reaction score
0
My wife has long wanted to go to Hawaii and it's about time for me to give in and take her. (I've been before and don't care about the long flights) We own silver and platinum at the Aruba SC. We did not buy into the DC program. We do have more than enough MR points but I would prefer not to use them right now.

So my question is: What are the chances of getting a trade through II using our two bedroom gold for a one bedroom in Hawaii during Oct or Nov next year, preferably at Marriott’s Ko Olina Beach Club?
 
LDT said:
.

So my question is: What are the chances of getting a trade through II using our two bedroom gold for a one bedroom in Hawaii during Oct or Nov next year, preferably at Marriott’s Ko Olina Beach Club?
Click to expand...

We did this same location to location trade a couple of years ago but got a 2 bedroom MKO Mountain View instead of the 1 bedroom. It took a couple of months waiting for the trade to come through, but it is doable.
 
I would say your chances are VERY high. We got a 2bdrm Ko Olina week in November with a studio (and it wasn't in flexchange). However, may I suggest you consider at least adding Maui to your request. It would be my first choice for a first trip to Hawaii...Ko Olina is nice, but Oahu is a bit too built up these days...I think Maui gives you a much better balanced experience (although trades in Maui are a bit more difficult, but very doable this time of year).

Get your request in as early as possible.
 
Oahu vs Maui Hawaii trade

ocdb8r said:
I would say your chances are VERY high. We got a 2bdrm Ko Olina week in November with a studio (and it wasn't in flexchange). However, may I suggest you consider at least adding Maui to your request. It would be my first choice for a first trip to Hawaii...Ko Olina is nice, but Oahu is a bit too built up these days...I think Maui gives you a much better balanced experience (although trades in Maui are a bit more difficult, but very doable this time of year).

Get your request in as early as possible.
Click to expand...

We were at Oahu last week and now at Maui WKORV this week. I agree to think about Maui instead of Oahu unless you have specific reasons for Oahu. We did. We wanted to see Pearl Harbor. We did get to see alot and did enjoy ourselves but now that we have experienced it, we won't go back. We were here in 2009 and if we come again to HI we will have to see Kauai.
 
Thanks for all the replies. We will probably take your advice and try for Maui instead. The only reason I was thinking Oahu is because of Pearl Harbor. I was in the Marines when I visited Hawaii and never made it to P.H. I was a lot younger then and regret not going. We may make a day trip over to see it.

Now I just have to get my week enrolled with II and get the ball rolling.
 
I would try to get at least a couple of nights in Oahu. Then you will get to see Pearl Harbor. After all it's a long flight and I wouldn't want to spend less than 10 nights (prefer 14 nights) in Hawaii to make the flight a non issue.
 
LDT said:
So my question is: What are the chances of getting a trade through II using our two bedroom gold for a one bedroom in Hawaii during Oct or Nov next year, preferably at Marriott’s Ko Olina Beach Club?
Click to expand...

I just did an exchange (my first) using a platinum week at Frenchman's Cove. We wanted Kauai in February but I added Maui as well because I didn't really "get" how it worked. Within a week, Maui came through, but I turned it down. The next weekend we got into Waiohai.

I don't know how many parallels you can draw, but since you are trading same-season and you are almost a year out, I think chances are really good that you will get what you want. The important tricks are: reserve the highest demand week you can for your resort (I had new year's week in St Thomas) and deposit it with II as soon as you know you want to exchange. That gives you the best trading power you can for the factors under your control.

The other thing to know, of course, is that you are at the mercy of someone else depositing their week. It could happen now, or it could happen 6 months from now. But when it does, you'll be at the top of the list.

-Eli
 
EliB said:
The important tricks are: reserve the highest demand week you can for your resort (I had new year's week in St Thomas) and deposit it with II as soon as you know you want to exchange. That gives you the best trading power you can for the factors under your control.-Eli
Click to expand...

So I would want to do a deposit first instead of the request first?
 
deposit first

Deposit First -- allow you to "cruise" through all of the availability and grab what you want. For instance, if you see a 2-bedroom, you could grab it. Or you may happen upon an available unit at a property that you had not thought of/requested.

Request First -- if you request a one bedroom-- that's all you would get.
 
LDT said:
Thanks for all the replies. We will probably take your advice and try for Maui instead. The only reason I was thinking Oahu is because of Pearl Harbor. I was in the Marines when I visited Hawaii and never made it to P.H. I was a lot younger then and regret not going. We may make a day trip over to see it.

Now I just have to get my week enrolled with II and get the ball rolling.
Click to expand...

Since you will probably fly into Oahu from the mainland and then take a shuttle to/from Maui, spend a couple of days on Oahu before going to Maui or on the way back home. I usually like to do it on the way home to breakup the flight time.

Or better yet, spend one week on Maui and one week on Oahu. :rolleyes:
 
If you only want a 1BR in Hawaii I'd lock off your SC unit before depositing, and either use one half in Aruba or deposit both halves. Especially since you are looking for off peak weeks, you should have no trouble getting a 1BR in Hawaii, and SC units trade really well; it would be a shame to give up a 2BR for a 1BR.

I happen to really like Oahu, and it would be a shame to travel to Hawaii and not visit Pearl Harbor. I'd either do a week at Ko'Olina or at least a few days on Oahu if you can make the trip a week and a half or 2 weeks. If you decide to do Maui and then a few days on Oahu, you can use your MR points for a hotel reservation to be contiguous with your Maui trade, and then try to nab a week at Ko'Olina with the other half of your unit. If you can get the second Hawaii trade lined up you can always cancel the hotel reservation.
 
Thanks a million for all the information. We'll have to decide how long we want to stay on each island. Heading back to the Surf Club tomorrow and that may be a good time to figure it all out.
 
I just traded a platimum 1BR at MCV for a 1BR at Maui Ocean Club. Check in is 10/27/12. Trade took about 3 weeks.

Good luck!
 
I'd say your chances are good. I've traded into Hawaii 4 times so far. Once to The Cliff's Resort in Princeville; twice to Ko'Olina and once to Waiohai. 3 of these trades were for Thanksgiving Week and the Waiohai one was for Spring Break Week. My friends just traded into Ko'Olina for a week in July for next summer. I don't think Hawaii is a hard trade as much any more as long as you are flexible. I think it is harder to trade into some of the Florida resorts. At least that is what has been my experience. Good luck!

If you click the link in my signature you can see pictures of the resorts I've stayed at. We also own at WKORV and we love that location. So, I'd even pick resorts outside the Marriott system for better chance.
 
Oahu vs Maui

There have been lots of debates over which island is best. Be sure to also read over on the Hawaii Tug board. I have been to all islands several times. Oahu maybe my favorite island.
 
cp73 said:
There have been lots of debates over which island is best. Be sure to also read over on the Hawaii Tug board. I have been to all islands several times. Oahu maybe my favorite island.
Click to expand...



A friend of mine who lives on Hawaii has told me there is a cruise ship which goes to all the islands every week. A fun and relaxing way to check out every island without the hassles of flying...




.
 
=TheTimeTraveler;1194269]A friend of mine who lives on Hawaii has told me there is a cruise ship which goes to all the islands every week. A fun and relaxing way to check out every island without the hassles of flying.
Click to expand...
That 7-day cruise is operated by Norwegian Cruise Line and it is a very good way to see the four main islands. Even better, in my opinion, are the 14 and 15 day cruises round trip from San Diego. Holland America has them, as do a few other cruise lines. These cruises also stop on all four islands, but you don't have the long trans-Pacific flights. The cost of this option is often less than round trip airfare to Hawaii plus the 7-day cruise. It is a delightful way to see Hawaii, and Holland America is a much more upscale cruise line than Norwegian. We own at MOC and Ko Olina but have taken this Holland America cruise once and will probably do it again in the next few years. A great value and a lot of fun.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
cp73 said:
There have been lots of debates over which island is best. Be sure to also read over on the Hawaii Tug board. I have been to all islands several times. Oahu maybe my favorite island.
Click to expand...
Agree on Oahu. It has been unamimous vs Maui both time we've gone. That surprises nearly everybody. Maui is great, too, though. Ko Olina and Waiohai next year, I hope--request in for Waiohai)
 
cp73 said:
There have been lots of debates over which island is best. Be sure to also read over on the Hawaii Tug board. I have been to all islands several times. Oahu maybe my favorite island.
Click to expand...

We really liked Oahu also.

As for the cruises- while someone recently told me the NCL cruise has finally improved, I can tell you that we took it in its inaugural year. Let's just say we loved Hawaii DESPITE the cruise. It was so bad that passengers called and complained and the LA Times sent a reporter to interview people when the boat docked in Maui. I won't gross people out by telling them some of the horror stories, but let's just say that forget about getting daily sheet changes as one is accustomed to on cruises; we had to call multiple times to get clean, non blood stained sheets to start out with. :eek: It was that bad! Free style dining meant 2 hour waits for dinner, with no reservations allowed- you just had to show up and wait, etc.. And their concession for all that went wrong was to offer us a discount on our next Hawaii cruise with them (as if we'd want to re-sail with them the following year). Oh- and to nevertheless charge the mandatory tipping fee.

As much as we have loved cruises, that was the first- and last- time I will set foot on an NCL cruise, although I understand that the problems were unique to the NCL America line.
 
we just returned tonight from a week at Ko Olina and I have to say, I love that resort..... I prefer it over Maui Ocean Club.... I have been to Maui a half dozen times and Oahu maybe a dozen time and Oahu (with Ko Olina) I would say is my preference.

oh.... and we traded into a 2 BDR Ko Olina from a 1 BDR Shadow Ridge (outside of Flex Change)
 
We have traded into Hawaii 3 times twice to Waohia Beach club Kuai in November once during Thanksgiving. And this year we tried for Christmas and got Ko Olina a two bedroom. I made the request in September and it took a week to get confirmation. We own a platinum week in Thailand.
 
cp73 said:
There have been lots of debates over which island is best. Be sure to also read over on the Hawaii Tug board. I have been to all islands several times. Oahu maybe my favorite island.
Click to expand...

If you have the time do both. They are all very different and all wonderful. We tend to like the action on one side of Oahu and the tranquility of the other. The atmosphere in Maui is great as well and the venues wonderful. The Big Island however is our favorite. We were there for several weeks following our Tahiti trip. We got a trade into Maui July 4th week and rented another on Redweek. I also got all resort hotels on Priceline for 100 to 110 per night. The economy was not doing well and the TS properties were all full but hotels were and still are probably not.

Do not miss Pearl Harbor. I found it one of the most moving memorials ever. And when we took our 25 year olds and thought it would mean nothing to them they were completely moved and my niece bought a teaching program for her class.

I had friends that have done the cruise and quite frankly I think that this is a part of the world and islands that one wants to be on and not just do day tripping on. And we cruise around the world (Mostly Celebrity.) Inter Island planes run like busses. Just my thoughts.

Hope to get a trade next January after an Asia trip. A nice place to rest in between flights.

Sue
 
Last edited:
LDT,

When we recently went to Kauai and stayed in a timeshare location I had wished we would have stayed the first few nights in a hotel to acclimated to the time and recover from the travel, etc. We spent the first two days just resting and recovering and I kinda felt like our time at our beautiful resort was bit wasted. If you want to see Pearl Harbor but stay in a timeshare on Maui, why not book a room for a few nights in a Marriott hotel on Oauhu for 3 nights or so, see Pearl Harbor, then go to Maui for your check-in for the week? By then you will be acclimated and will have seen P.H. which sounds very worth while.

Good luck! Sounds like a great trip.

Janna
 
ChrisMac said:
We have traded into Hawaii 3 times twice to Waohia Beach club Kuai in November once during Thanksgiving. And this year we tried for Christmas and got Ko Olina a two bedroom. I made the request in September and it took a week to get confirmation. We own a platinum week in Thailand.
Click to expand...
I would be useful in the context of this thread's discussion to let folks know what you put up for the exchanges and maybe how far in advance you placed your requests.
 
applegirl said:
LDT,

When we recently went to Kauai and stayed in a timeshare location I had wished we would have stayed the first few nights in a hotel to acclimated to the time ...
Click to expand...

This whole time difference thing reminds me - if you are taking the trip to Maui and are coming from the mainland, consider doing a pre-dawn drive up to the Haleakala summit to watch the sunrise. It is ONE absolutely amazing sight. Don't forget the camera and camcorder !

Upon the first day or two of your arrival to Hawaii, a pre-dawn drive would not be too bad since your body is still accustomed somewhat the mainland's time.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top