Anyone ever exchanged through Interval International?

[tibia56]

I bought DVC through resale with 210 points that were to expire within two months of my closing date. Following advice from the DVC reservations personnel, I borrowed points from the following year, bought a week at OKW, and deposited that week with Interval International. I was told I had two years to use my available vacation week. I have tried multiple times to use my available week (ski area in Colorado, beach resort in Northwest Florida, New Orleans in the summer (!), but have not been able to get a match, despite rather wide date ranges.
Is my experience typical or the exception?
Any suggestions as to how to match up before my week expires next summer?

 

[Merilyn]

We exchanged a week to Marriott Newport Beach in May. We called last Oct and it took them about a week or two to call us back. We didn't have a lot of trouble and they gave us one of our choices. It is the only time we have used II. I hope your trouble isn't the norm with II, also. We plan to exchange a lot in the future.

 

[Dean]

Hopefully you have ongoing searches because it's unlikely you'll ever find these type of units just sitting there. Also, don't forget about the flexchange shorts notice exchange option (less than 2 months out). Regardless, time is running out and you need to be very flexible to match. There are a lot of factors but give us more info and I bet we can help.

 

[Lisa P.]

Have you been making cold calls to Member Services and hoping for an instant confirmation? II exchanging is not like reserving Concierge Collection or a hotel room. The availability at prime locations is not wide open. Other owners at those sites have to choose to give up their weeks to trade. So decide on all your acceptable dates and destinations. Then call MS and ask them to place an ongoing search request for you. If you are flexible with a range of dates and destinations, and if you can just wait a few weeks or months, you are likely to have success.

If this is what you've been doing right along and the wait has been fruitless, let us know the specific of your trade request and we may be able to make suggestions to help. Feel free to email me too.

 

[tibia56]

I have submitted about 7 requests for exchanges. All were left in place until they expired and were closed by DVC.

Submitted Requests:
New Orleans (3 week window) Summer 2000 [Expired after 3 months]
Hotel de L'Eau Vive
The Quarter House

Beaver Creek, CO (2 different 1 week windows) January 2001 [Expired after 4 months], January 2002 [Still searching; no match after 5 months waiting]
Park Plaza
Post Montane
St. James Place
Lakeside Resort

Destin FL (10 week window) Summer 2001 [ No match after 5 months], Summer 2002 [Still searching; no match after 5 months waiting]
Bay Club of SanDestin

All of these requests started with a cold call to member services (I don't know any other way to do it!) with no instant match available. All searches went on for prolonged periods of time. I never heard from DVC other than to get periodic postcards telling me that no match was found and that I should call Member Services. The cards confused me slightly, since I had multiple simultaneous searches and I didn't know which one DVC was referring to. I called once to see if there was any progress, but was told that DVC preferred that I not check up on the requests and they would contact me if a match was found. I find it hard to belive that there were no matches in Destin given the long lead time and lengthy window for a match. Is there any way to make sure my request is being worked on by DVC? Is my request being given equal consideration as a request from somone within II who is not part of DVC? Could someone else's request be moved ahead of mine without me realizing it? Is there any other way to check on availability other than pestering DVC Nenber Services?

I am not familiar with the reply that referred to "flexchange short notice exchange option" and cannot find any information about it in my Member Guidebook or on the DVC website. Any suggestions?

A separate e-mail from a forum post indicated that relatively few 2-BR units are available on the exchanges. I deposited a 2-BR unit in Interval International since I have a family of 5 with 3 small children (8,6,and 4) and really need the space. How do I find out the distribution of various size accomodations in a specific property? Was I foolish to deposit a 2-BR unit if there really is a very low probability of actually finding a similar unit in exchange? Am I wasting my time trying for a match?

Due to the ages of our children (2 boys and a baby sister), certain properties are not really a good option for us (e.g. mountain cabins in the summer since the 4 y/o has an extremely limited capacity for hiking, fishing, and rafting) and there are geographic travel considerations as well. I tried to be fairly flexible on the dates of my requests, except for the Beaver Creek request that tied in to a professional education meeting. I understand that several requests are in prime season, but I deposited a prime season (August) week at OKW. Does this mean that the only weeks actually available through II are in off-season or shoulder season?

All suggestions are welcome!

 

[Dean]

tibia56, I see several problems with your requests. First, any search started a year or less is considered short notice by most of us experienced exchangers. Second, some of the locations you've noted have very few 2 BR (NO) and a 2 BR request will be very unlikely if that's what you've asked for. And everything was a very high demand time/area like ski weeks at top places reducing your chances for success further.

The flexchange is available at less than 60 days from your expected travel but you won't find much in summer and other school holidays. You must call day by day to do this. I don't believe II ignores the DVC requests, if anything, they probably give them a priority when they can.

Put in now for next summer for mutliple weeks and resorts. Don't wait until January which appears to be how you've operated in the past. Good luck and let us know what happens.

 

[tibia56]

Thanks for the input. I have only been a DVC member for a little over a year and have no experience with time share exchanges. With only a 2 year window to use the II exchange and your information that anything less than one year notice is considered short term, the situation leves less flexibility than I thought. I am learning that there is a significant gap between theory and reality in these exchanges.

I did put in requests 15 months in advance for Destin and 10 months in advance for Breaver Creek, so I am trying!

On the flexchange, do I have to call DVC every day or do I call someone else? How did you find out that the New Orleans properties have very few 2-BR units? I don't recall noticing that in any unformation available to me!

 

[Lisa P.]

Posted by tibia56:
I did put in requests 15 months in advance for Destin and 10 months in advance for Breaver Creek, so I am trying!

I agree. They are just very popular destinations with few 2-BR's, which of course, get taken first. Also, anyone who is trading back in from offseason at their own home resort will get owner priority over you, placed ahead of you in the waitlist, so to speak.

BTW, will MS permit you to request a trade back into a DVC resort using your II deposit? It is obviously not a great use of points and it would cost you the trade fee ($75). This may be an option that you didn't have within the expiration date of your original points. II does offer owner priority on internal trades with other brand systems so perhaps they'd grant it for a DVC'er as well. It may even be a week that you could use to do a direct trade with an owner from one of the resorts you are seeking. Just a thought.

How did you find out that the New Orleans properties have very few 2-BR units?

Postings on TUG bulletin boards and the resort reviews on TUG will show this kind of info. Many of the resorts in N.O. are restored historic buildings in good locations for sightseeing. The rooms are small and quaint; the resorts offer few amenities, knowing that most guests will be out & about. Purchase prices are high and they cater to adult couples more than families so they naturally didn't build many 2-BR's. Quarter House trades through both II & RCI so the number of II deposits would be even fewer than expected if it traded through just II.

The same is true of the Bay Club, which is now partly managed by Fairfield (that part trades via RCI). I called FF to see if they happened to have availability for a FF points owner to book a summer week at Bay Club. They had time available in May but not June. And it's too early to try for July or August. A request for such peak time must be done right at the beginning of the booking window (like DVC HHI in summer). This may give some indication of how many owners use their own summer weeks and don't trade them. Even though this resort is not directly on the beach, it's got beach access and that makes it a tough trade.

I'm sure this doesn't encourage you much, but I hope it helps explain why there has been such a long wait and sometimes without success. If you are able to request any kind of exchange in the next year that isn't the peak season for ski or beach, you'd have much better success. Or wait & see. Perhaps, with the usual bulk of deposits in winter (when maintenance fees are paid), you'll find success.

 

[downontheBW]

I haven't ever exchanged but have had some searches. The only one that came through was at San Luis Bay in California for fall 2001; we had pretty juch changed our vacation plans by the time it came up. That was for a search about a year in advance.

FYI, I did look into Lake Tahoe for April/May/June 2002 which is between seasons or off season. It was only about 12 months ahead and there were multiple resorts available. The one I was most interested in is Ridge Tahoe. We'll probably do that in the future sometime.

Now that I think of it, there were also some resort available on the coast of Washington/Oregon when I checked. Again about a year ahead; this time for fall 2002.

I just called MS with an area, either Southern CA or Tahoe area or Northwest coast, and they looked around at what was available for various weeks. I didn't have to ask for a particular resort. They were very accommodating.

Good luck!

 

[Dean]

I asked the MS exchange people about exchanging back in to DVC through II and was told it was not allowed. Still might be worth a try though. Since you've already deposited with II, a direct exchange for these points is not an option but is a very good option for the future. I would be surprised if Bay Club didn't come up if you're searching ongoing. Might not match until around 2-4 months out though.

I think you must call day by day for flexchange though if you have a pending request, they will continue to search until I believe 38 days from the travel. Just let them keep searching as long as you can stand it.

I did put in requests 15 months in advance for Destin and 10 months in advance for Breaver Creek

I assume those are pending requests, hopefully so.

Maybe you could consider some shoulder seasons like HH for early to mid June, places like Marriott's Ocean Pointe or Gatlinburg. Even Branson or Ski areas for summer or a little off season come to mind.

Looking at II's exchange site, I see Gatlinburg, Branson, Marriott's Ocean Pointe (1 BR units), Sourthern CA 2 BR's, NC mountains, Many units for North Utah, a number of CO units for summer, Tahoe, CA desert, Fairmont BC, etc. True, many of these are 1 BR and studio units but there are a pretty good mix of 2 BR units there. Many are Marriott's and will be locked out for 24 days but it looks like most of them have been through their 24 day waiting period already. Get on the phone with MS and get them to find you something that fits your needs.

 

[tibia56]

Thanks very much for all the help. Based on the replies, the summary for exchanging through II is:
Give at least one year lead time
Be exceedingly flexible in vacation plans
2-BR units are much less available than 1-BR or studios
The TUG (Timeshare Users group) website has helpul data about the resorts
The chance of matching a beach or ski property during peak season is very low

DVC is my first exposure to the world of Timeshares. By and large the DVC literature is accurate regarding the amenities and reservations at the DVC resorts, but the information on exchanges through II is misleading. DVC implies that it is relatively easy to exchange to II resorts, but the reality is much more difficult.

 

[penguincruiser]

I must have just got lucky then, I requested a studio in Spain/Portugal/Canaries - gave a list of 5 resorts about 5 months out wanted it for May/June and got my 2nd choice within 6 weeks or so. And that was a holiday week!

JJ Penguin

 

[BillPA]

I just completed a swap for Breckenridge, Co. I called MS about a month ago, while on the phone they did a search, found the week I wanted at The Grand Timber Lodge. This was for Jan 5-12, 2002. I only needed a studio, but other sizes were available. It "cost" me 55 points. MS looked and found a week at HH that was traded to II. The call took about 10 mins and was as easy as falling off my snowboard.

This was my only II trade so far. But if is always this easy, there will be more to come.


Good luck finding something that works for you.

 

[Dean]

Originally posted by tibia56
Thanks very much for all the help. Based on the replies, the summary for exchanging through II is:
Give at least one year lead time
Be exceedingly flexible in vacation plans
2-BR units are much less available than 1-BR or studios
The TUG (Timeshare Users group) website has helpul data about the resorts
The chance of matching a beach or ski property during peak season is very low

DVC is my first exposure to the world of Timeshares. By and large the DVC literature is accurate regarding the amenities and reservations at the DVC resorts, but the information on exchanges through II is misleading. DVC implies that it is relatively easy to exchange to II resorts, but the reality is much more difficult.

That's pretty much it. Note that studios are a dime a dozen so those that want to trade for studios will do well as long as the locations one wants have studios. It will be increasingly more difficult to get 1 BR then 2 BR units.