In need of an intro to Interval

[Brian Noble]

Nothing is "dumped" into interval. Owners who have reservations then deposit their weeks to exchange for weeks elsewhere.

Sort of.

Some owners at some resorts do book specific weeks and put them into the II space bank. My weeks work this way, for example. But, some deposits are made by the management company---either because a depositing owner is "assigned" a week rather than being able to choose it, or because the owner is depositing points rather than a specific week.

The Sheraton weeks in RCI work on an as-assigned basis. I don't think they also do that in II nor can I think of an II resort of the top of my head that works that way. But, I suspect there are at least a couple.

The more interesting case is points-based exchange usage. For example, no DVC owners ever reserve a specific week to deposit/exchange. Instead they deposit/exchange points, and DVCMC gets to decide what inventory they deposit to "balance the books." Hyatt mostly works this way. Marriott is moving in this direction; resorts that were not sold as weeks have deposits controlled by MVC, as are weeks that were converted to points. For instance, I believe all of the "Pulse" (in-city) properties other than Boston were only sold as points.

As you can imagine, the point-based systems generally don't deposit the "best" stuff. Again using DVC as an example, you see an awful lot of SSR and OKW deposits, plus a handful of BWV, AKV, and BRV. Every once in a blue moon BLT. October or early December deposits are very rare. Lots of summer though. And so on.

The other thing working against DVC owner interests is exchange priority. Marriott and Sheraton both have an "exclusive" period for deposits. For Marriott, this window is several weeks IIRC. During those first weeks after a week is deposited, it can only be seen by other Marriott owners. So, the good stuff gets "picked off" before it gets to non-Marriott folks. That doesn't mean you can't get good exchanges, but it does make it harder.

 

[cbyrne1174]

Sounds like you are not really understanding how interval works. Nothing is "dumped" into interval. Owners who have reservations then deposit their weeks to exchange for weeks elsewhere. There is a lot of great resorts that get deposited into interval. Depending on what location, and what week you deposit, depends on what resorts you have access to book. It really all comes down to the TDI score your week has on Interval, and how far out you deposit.

Sounds like you're not really understanding how point systems associated with Interval works. Most of the good inventory is point based (Marriott DC Trust, StarOptions etc) and only the leftover inventory that owners didn't use with their points gets "dumped" into II. Most Marriott Ko Olina inventory, for example, are elected weeks. If the owner doesn't want to go to Ko Olina, then they convert their weeks to points. When a DC trust owner uses II, do you honestly think Marriott is going to deposit a Ko Olina week or an Orlando week on their behalf? Their ownership isn't associated with a specific week, but with a trust.

You want a week in Hawaii, but don't have a Marriott or Vistana ownership? Good luck. There is a priority. Marriott owners get up to 21 days of access ahead of other exchangers for Marriott inventory. TDI is just a part of the calculation. There is also the demand for the location itself (Hawaii = high; Orlando = low).

 

[Dotluvsdisney]

I do not understand either but found a blog post on a DVC resale site not allowed here from Googling DVC international exchange. It gave a clear summary!

 

[Monykalyn]

You want a week in Hawaii, but don't have a Marriott or Vistana ownership? Good luck. There is a priority. Marriott owners get up to 21 days of access ahead of other exchangers for Marriott inventory. TDI is just a part of the calculation. There is also the demand for the location itself (Hawaii = high; Orlando = low).

Which is why we have a timeshare unit in Hawaii lol-one with low MF compared to MVC. However there are occasions where a MVC comes up in Hawaii-usually Kauai though.

Getaways through Interval International can be a real bargain if you find one where you want to go and somewhat flexible on time frame

 

[zavandor]

If you were booking a DVC stay with your points, it would not include food, drinks, or entertainment. Why would you expect that at any other timeshare?

I guess the surprising part is the amount of the fee.
It's like if DVC deposit all-inclusive weeks and then at checkin the charge not just the cost of the dining plan, but the cost of a rack rates room plus DP.

 

[Brian Noble]

They are almost always terrible deals.

The one exception that comes to mind are the Tradewinds yacht cruises. The AI fee for those is usually about 60% of what it would cost to book directly. IIRC those are only in RCI, and DVC would be a poor choice to exchange into one--the exchange values are usually low-to-medium.

These have been on my To Do List for a while, but the dates haven't ever really worked out.

 

[Brian Noble]

These have been on my To Do List for a while, but the dates haven't ever really worked out.

This has reminded me I should look. I can book one in St. Martin for about $4K all-in for the two of us for next May--a period where we were looking for something beachy. Booking directly with Tradewinds would be just under $7K.

Decisions decisions.

 

[Brian Noble]

One of the other cool things about Tradewinds through RCI is that there isn't a single supplement. That St. Martin trip is 1.7K EUR for one, 3.4K for two. I assume they wouldn't bunk you with someone else--each cabin is very small with a queen bed.

Unfortunately, they have a system-wide 1-in-4.