What's up with the lack of inventory in Interval International??

[scubarob]

Has anyone else noticed that 75-80% of the Interval International inventory is either 'Limited Exchange', only available to new owners, or requires a $1,000 per person meal plan?
Many of the properties that were previously available to request via exchange are now unavailable due to one of the 3 reasons I just listed.
I'm wondering if this has something to do with the fact that Marriott purchased Interval International in 2018. Unfortunately, I'm just now becoming aware of this issue because, like many people, I haven't travelled for several years now.
If this is the new normal with Interval International, my timeshare in Tahiti Village will be useless to me as I only use my week to exchange for other properties and don't plan on vacationing there with my family.
I would love to get others opinion on this.
TIA!

 

[montygz]

Many people are out traveling now because there was a pandemic that shut down travel for a couple of years. Demand is high.

Also, because of labor shortages from the pandemic, some resorts may not be operating at 100% capacity.

As for what you can pull with your timeshare, I do not know.

I do see many nice stays being posted in the sightings thread.

 

[HudsHut]

Welcome, scubarob

Interval allows its members to set up "ongoing search requests". Enter the unit size(s), resort(s) codes, and the dates you wish to travel. Pay the exchange fee. Then Interval's system is on the job, searching for resorts that will match your request, 24 x 7.

When a member looks at online inventory, the regions, resorts, & weeks that are visible are what remain in inventory once the Ongoing Search Requests have been matched. You do not know what was matched last night, the night before, or last week. You are making an assumption that Interval has limited/low inventory based upon what you "see". You only know that what you want is not currently in II's inventory. Let us know what areas interest you and we may be able to tell you whether those areas are likely to have inventory. (Some areas have no inventory.)

There are certain areas of where All-Inclusive resorts are the norm. I avoid looking at those areas. The All-Inclusive resorts tend to deposit every week of the year to II, so there is always inventory available online. In addition, since it is not economically feasible to trade a week for an All-Inclusive, those resorts do not get selected often by II members. To weed them out, I compiled a list of the Non-AI resorts. Just copy / paste the resort codes in the areas that interest you (or all of the codes at the bottom.)

 

[DeniseM]

Also: people are USING their timeshares, rather than depositing them, because they haven't been about to travel for a couple of years and they want to use their timeshares now that they can.

 

[scubarob]

Maybe I didn't state my issue clearly.
The issue is not the process of requesting an exchange or the fact that properties are currently not available for exchange.
I've been a member for 15 years and exchanged my week many times for beautiful properties.
The issue is that many of the properties that were available to request in previous years are now either 'Limited Exchange Activity', only available for purchase/getaway or require $1000 per person meal plans.
I'm talking about 80% of the properties I used to be able to request for exchange are now 1 of those 4 categories which means the inventory is essentially reduced by 80%.
Those 4 types of exchanges I listed used to account for about 20% of inventory but now they account for 80% of the inventory.

 

[VacationForever]

For us, we haven't seen any difference, still getting where we want to exchange into at the time of year which we want to travel. We avoid school holidays and peak periods so if those have changed, we would not know.

 

[davidvel]

Maybe I didn't state my issue clearly.
The issue is not the process of requesting an exchange or the fact that properties are currently not available for exchange.
I've been a member for 15 years and exchanged my week many times for beautiful properties.
The issue is that many of the properties that were available to request in previous years are now either 'Limited Exchange Activity', only available for purchase/getaway or require $1000 per person meal plans.
I'm talking about 80% of the properties I used to be able to request for exchange are now 1 of those 4 categories which means the inventory is essentially reduced by 80%.
Those 4 types of exchanges I listed used to account for about 20% of inventory but now they account for 80% of the inventory.

I don't understand what you mean by "'Limited Exchange', only available to new owners, or requires a $1,000 per person meal plan." I have never heard of the term limited exchange or any restriction on exchange on new owners. Many Mexico resorts have meal plan requirements but I haven;t noted any changes.

We continue to trade our desert lock offs for 2BR in Mariotts in Hawaii and ski weeks, and this hasn't changed much in almost 15 years. Sure inventory varies with the economy and other obvious factors.

But nope, never seen "'Limited Exchange', or 'only available to new owners'." Sounds like a salesperson pitch.

 

[VacationForever]

When you look at the resort directory and will find some resorts listed as "limited exchange". Those resorts sell their weeks through getaways and it has always been that way. Mexico and the Carribean always have a ton of all inclusive resorts, that has also not changed.

It will help us understand the issue if you can name a few resorts where you used to exchange into, and they have since changed.

I am also not aware of the 1 in 4 years of exchange resorts in II. RCI has plenty of those.

 

[Marathoner]

In the last 3 years, I've done over 20 II exchanges each year. And these are not Orlando or Williamsburg type resorts. I think II has a good amount of inventory. I do agree that in prime season in prime locations, 2 bedrooms are very difficult. 1BRs are much more available. So, I think II is alive and well, I think that the OP perhaps should adapt, as people changes deposit patterns and unit sizes.

 

[mdurette]

Maybe I didn't state my issue clearly.
The issue is not the process of requesting an exchange or the fact that properties are currently not available for exchange.
I've been a member for 15 years and exchanged my week many times for beautiful properties.
The issue is that many of the properties that were available to request in previous years are now either 'Limited Exchange Activity', only available for purchase/getaway or require $1000 per person meal plans.
I'm talking about 80% of the properties I used to be able to request for exchange are now 1 of those 4 categories which means the inventory is essentially reduced by 80%.
Those 4 types of exchanges I listed used to account for about 20% of inventory but now they account for 80% of the inventory.

Welcome to TUG! Can you give us an example of the resorts you looking at? That may help us with your comments.

 

[tschwa2]

...or list your last 3 years of II exchanges to show what you normally get through II.
edit- actually with covid the last 2 years really aren't as representative as others. Maybe list your last 4-5 years if it isn't too many.

These are mine and I don't consider myself an overly successful II exchanger and use rci 3 out 4 exchanges. For me finding places that II is stronger than rci. For me it is Hilton Head in the spring and summer and some specific Texas resorts. and then just random resorts that suit my fancy and work for my family.

2018
3/25 Bluewater Resort and Marina 3BR(Hilton Head Island)
6/23 Hyatt Wild Oak Ranch 2BR (San Antonia)

2019
6/26 Bluewater Resort and Marina 3BR (Hilton Head Island)
7/6 Marriott Crystal Shores 3BR (Marco Island)

2020
6/12 Villas at Flying L Ranch Resort 2BR (Banderas, TX)
7/10 Marriott Grand Ocean Resort 2BR (HHI)

2021
2 short stays totally 12 days to use up a late deposit 6/14 and 6/20 Marriotts Aruba Ocean Club 1BR
8/8 Villas at Flying L Ranch Resort 2 BR (Banderas, TX)

2022
6/10 Villas at Flying L Ranch Resort 2 BR (TX)
8/19 Marriott Grande Ocean 2BR (HHI)

In addition I have taken advantage of a half a dozen platinum Getaways for $99-$159 in Atlantic City (late May/early June) and Williamsburg (early June and grand illumination week in Dec)

 

[scubarob]

Here is an example: 9 out of the 11 resorts in Sicily are not available to request because they're either, 'Limited Exchange Activity', a New member resort, or only available to purchase through a getaway. I don't remember this being the case last year when we were looking at resorts in Sicily. Maybe I'm wrong or maybe it's still Covid related.
That's where we really want to go next summer so it's just very disappointing.
I'm glad to hear that many of you are still getting into the resorts of your choice. I've seen some really bad reviews online and was starting to think that what has so far been a very positive experience with II is going to take a really bad turn for the worse.
BTW, we've traded our week at Tahiti Village for Westin Princeville, Kauai, Westin Kaanapali, Maui, Oyster Bay Beach Resort, St. Maarten, InnSeason - Surfside, Falmouth, Cape Cod, BlueWater Resort, Hilton Head, etc. and have thoroughly enjoyed our timeshare so far.

 

[dioxide45]

I don't understand what you mean by "'Limited Exchange', only available to new owners, or requires a $1,000 per person meal plan." I have never heard of the term limited exchange or any restriction on exchange on new owners. Many Mexico resorts have meal plan requirements but I haven;t noted any changes.

We continue to trade our desert lock offs for 2BR in Mariotts in Hawaii and ski weeks, and this hasn't changed much in almost 15 years. Sure inventory varies with the economy and other obvious factors.

But nope, never seen "'Limited Exchange', or 'only available to new owners'." Sounds like a salesperson pitch.

Welcome to TUG! Can you give us an example of the resorts you looking at? That may help us with your comments.

When you look at the resort in the directory, you might see a notation about the resort having limited exchange activity.

 

[HudsHut]

“New Member Resort” means a resort that is newly affiliated with Interval. (e.g. The resort may have been with RCI in the past.)
The resort my be requested and confirmed by all II members.

I attempted to add the 10 Sicily resorts to a request for July 2023. All were rejected, and I received the following error message:
The following resort(s) are not available during the selected travel window, or have been removed based on your relinquishment.

I found I was able to add some for September 2022, but even then I got a warning that my dates had been changed due to "black-out dates".

I then tried adding each resort (one at a time) to an ongoing search request, from July 14, 2022 - June 22, 2024. Here are the results:
For RTE the system ends the request on Sept 15, 2022.
For KMN the system ends the request on Sept 22, 2022.
For LSB, RBA The system cut off the dates to Oct 6, 2022.
For CAL the system ends the request on Oct 13, 2022.
For LUA, TDB, VCM the system ends the request on Nov 3, 2022.
LJN, RMC - could not find any dates to add to request.

Perhaps inventory has not yet been loaded for 2023?
I would write to Mark Delcampo at tugmembers@intervalintl.com to ask about the black out dates for Sicily resorts and whether Sicily's 2023 inventory may be added at a later date.

 

[easyrider]

II probably makes more money renting units than exchanging units. II is owned by Marriott International and Marriott is focused on making money.

Bill

 

[2rebecca]

Has anyone else noticed that 75-80% of the Interval International inventory is either 'Limited Exchange', only available to new owners, or requires a $1,000 per person meal plan?
Many of the properties that were previously available to request via exchange are now unavailable due to one of the 3 reasons I just listed.
I'm wondering if this has something to do with the fact that Marriott purchased Interval International in 2018. Unfortunately, I'm just now becoming aware of this issue because, like many people, I haven't travelled for several years now.
If this is the new normal with Interval International, my timeshare in Tahiti Village will be useless to me as I only use my week to exchange for other properties and don't plan on vacationing there with my family.
I would love to get others opinion on this.
TIA!

The "limited exchange" notice has never prevented me from placing a request, but I'm certain it has prevented that request from being fulfilled. "Only available to new owners" notice is new to me; I've never seen that one. I wonder what that is all about? I did have trouble placing a request for Disney resorts back in January. One message told me something to the effect that my deposit wasn't strong enough to even request one of the Disney resorts. Then I got some other message on a few of the others. Unfortunately, I don't remember the exact message. Someone here suggested it might be because II was still adding the resorts to the system. I think they were right, because I was able to add those resorts to my request a few days/weeks later. I still got the error message regarding my deposit not being strong enough for the last Diseny resort. I wasn't surprised that I couldn't match to it, but it was the first time I've been told I couldn't even request a resort.

Here is what I'm wondering: I own at Tahiti Resort. A sister resort to Tahiti Village. I've noticed a HUGE difference this year in what I can see with my deposit! I've even noticed over the last few months there were things I could see at the beginning of the year that I can't see now. I've been a member of II since 2003, so this isn't "new" to me either. I've been following the sitings forum on tug for several years to better gauge the strength of my unit to help set expectations of what I can expect to exchange into. In the past I could see a lot of stuff. I couldn't see everything, nor did I expect to see it. I could see a lot though. Now there is a lot I can't see. Earlier this year I had a deposit from last year and one from this year. There was 5 point difference in TDI, but basically the same deposit. I could see so much more with my older deposit. Even the stuff 30-60 days out which should have reduced filters since it is in flexchange wasn't visible to my 2022 deposit. Normally new deposits should be stronger all else being equal. I'm wondering if there is something going on with our home resorts/Soleil Management causing it to be devalued by II.

 

[suskey]

I am seeing the same decreased availability with my Casitas Del Monte 2 br in Palm Springs. I have exchanged to Marriotts Fairway Viilas in September for the past 12 years..no problem. Now I only see availability late October to December. Also, nothing has popped up in flexchange for MFV and I have been checking every day for the last 6 months.

 

[HudsHut]

@suskey
Have you set up an ongoing search request?
There are 2 September weeks out there right now. 9/18 & 9/23. See Sightings.

The first one is under Marriott preference (only people searching with a Marriott week can currently see it). But the second week is not. If you can use 9/23, call II right now and ask if you can be matched to it.

 

[HudsHut]

@scubarob Did II give you any info on Sicily?