Interval International Exchange Questions

[madelyn]

Have a few questions that are a bit off-topic but I was hoping some of you might be able to help me. We are planning an early June trip and I was hoping to possibly rent points to stay at DVC but have been unable to do that due to uncertainty about how many extended family members will be making the trip with us. Then we found out about a banked week my sister-in-law has at II that she needs to use by the end of August. She owns a 2-bedroom at The Royal Islander in Cancun. I was hoping to trade for DVC and although I have seen several weeks at OKW in my frequent searching on the Interval website, nothing fits our travel plans. I already have two rooms at the Dolphin through Priceline for June 10-13 (Thur-Sun nights). Anyhow, my questions are:

1. Most of the DVC weeks I've seen up for exchange are Sat-Sat stays. Are all the weeks offered as Sat-Sat weeks?

2. Does the Interval Exchange database update whenever a member deposits a week, which could be anytime of the day or do they have a time to do an update, such as after midnight? I know I have seen listings go away, so I'm assuming that if a property is deposited, is it immediately deleted off, but are new weeks added throughout the day? I check many times throughout the day and was wondering if I am wasting my time doing this.

3. How do Exchange requests work? I understand the process and was about to place a request but saw that they charge the exchange fee and guest certificate fee at the time the request is placed. What happens if no match if found? Are these fees refunded?

4. And lastly, the expiring week my sister-in-law has deposited is her 2-bedroom unit week and I noticed it will pull up anything from an efficiency to a 3-bedroom as an exchange. But when I searched using her efficiency week, I noticed the only size unit excluded was the 3-bedroom. Does this mean she can exchange her efficiency for a 2-bedroom?

 

[Dean]

Let me try to help. Most deposits will be Sat-Sat with an occasional Fri or Sunday start date. The database will be updated on II's schedule but pending requests will be filled first. That means it may be a couple of days before a deposit makes it online assuming it doesn't match someone's request. Early AM (like 5 am) and late night (midnight or after) seem to be the best times to find gems. They charge the fee upfront and it's refundable if you don't match or if you cancel, it's essentially not refundable if you match.

She can exchange an efficiency for a 2 BR but trade power will prevail so don't expect to get a DVC 2 BR for a studio other than possibly inside 60 days. You should consider an off property like Marriott, much better chances and larger units likely available.

 

[madelyn]

Thanks Dean. Yes, I've noticed most DVC properties are most plentiful in the early morning or middle of the night (after midnight) and they are usually gone within 24 hours. In the last week or so that I have looked dilligently, there have been several 1-bed units at OKW, some even over the Memorial Day weekend, in mid-May and early June. I've seen one 2-bedroom at OKW which was snatched away almost before my eyes and efficiencies at OKW, BW and VWL. If I knew for sure it would only be the 4 of us, I would snatch up an OKW 1-bed and probably waste a night there or at the Dolphin. But the uncertainty of our party-size makes me just want to trade for the Marriott Grande Vista 3-bedroom. But 1700+ square feet will be a bit much for the four of us and it would be sad to have to stay off site for the first time. But I have heard good things about the Grande Vista. Since my sister-in-law has the 2-bedroom deposited, I really can't trade with anything less. But I was trying to understand the whole process so that I can try to get the most out of her trade. And I'm afraid to wait too long to make the exchange and end up at the Westgate or worst!

 

[madelyn]

Another comment....I still think it is odd how exchanges are done and how my sister-in-law can exchange an efficiency for a 2-bed at a Marriott property. She thought that if she deposited an efficiency, she could get an efficiency unit only. A 1-bed could get a 1-bed or efficiency and a 2-bed could get her a 2-bed or less.

 

[Dean]

Originally posted by madelyn
Another comment....I still think it is odd how exchanges are done and how my sister-in-law can exchange an efficiency for a 2-bed at a Marriott property. She thought that if she deposited an efficiency, she could get an efficiency unit only. A 1-bed could get a 1-bed or efficiency and a 2-bed could get her a 2-bed or less.

While II (and RCI) would like to limit uptrades and downtrades, there's no way to do it completely. A studio in high season may have more "value" than a 3 BR in low season. Like real estate, it's location, location, location but it's also time of year. In evaluating trading ideas, don't consider anything within 60 days of the travel as having any meaning.

 

[JudyS]

Dean, while we're on the topic, can you give us a general idea of what sort of non-DVC properties would be most likely to trade into the DVC? If one is thinking of buying an additional (non-DVC) timeshare, does it make sense to look at only II properties, in the hope that one will sometimes be able to trade into the DVC? Or, is trading into the DVC so difficult that it's not worth considering when buying a non-DVC property?

(Of course, this question is open to anyone, not just Dean!)

I'm also confused about trading out of DVC into other II properties. I saw a post where someone said he got two efficiencies in Hawaii and they only cost him 55 DVC points each, plus his trading fees. I thought one had to give up a whole DVC week for one week somewhere else!

 

[goudaman40]

JudyS I can help with the question that you have.

DVC only trades into II (Interval International). We currently own Fairfield and have traded into DVC without any problems. As a matter of fact - I traded a Studio in high season and received a 2 bedroom at OKW for the last week of September.

Currently we have an exchange of High Season studio for the second week of August at BWV (we are staying in a studio). We have also traded into BCV (during July) and VWL (during May) without any problems. The only thing to remember is that you have a) an exchange fee of $125 and b) Disney charges a $95 transportation fee. The fee that Disney charges is for all transportation and also you can call the member services number and have all of our priority seating arrangements made.

All of the exchanges above have been made about 7 months out and have been really painless.

 

[madelyn]

goudaman40

When you got your DVC units through Exchange, did you get them via Instant Confirmation or through a request?

 

[goudaman40]

both - internet & request

 

[Dean]

I have actually traded back in to DVC three times. A 2BR at OKW and a 1 BR each at OKW and BWV. The fee is not actually a tranportation fee. It's really a "resort services fee" and essentially used to pay for the exchange program from what I can find out. I have traded in with moderate rated resorts and even a bonus week. In hundreds of hours of II searching over the past few years, I have come to the conclusion that there is little rhyme or reason to the system, at least from this end. In general though it will require a high ended rated unit from both a demand standpoint and a quality standpoint. The largest issue seems to be the number of DVC units on deposit for a given resort and seems to change almost daily. All I can say it give it a try if you have the stomach to wait till about 60 days out. Good luck.

 

[JudyS]

Thanks everyone for the replies!

My understanding is that in addition to the $125 II exchange fee and the Disney $95 resort fee, there is also a fee of $79 (or a bit less if you join for multiple years at a time) to join II. So, I'm assuming that there's around $300 in fees one has to pay in order to trade *into* DVC.

Dean (or anyone else here), how often have you tried to trade into the DVC and failed? In other words, were those times you got a DVC trade the only times you tried, or were there also (lots of) times you requested a DVC trade but one never came through?

Dean, you said, "The largest issue seems to be the number of DVC units on deposit for a given resort" -- do you mean the number deposited by OKW, BWV, etc, or did you mean something else?

 

[goudaman40]

Everytime we have requested a DVC resort, we have gotten it. The only time we had a problem was when we wanted a 3 bedroom. We decided on a 2 bedroom and a studio instead of the 3 bedroom.


As far as the fee for II, it is covered by our timeshare. The Fairfield timeshare that we own, pays for our II membership. The only thing that would be additional is if we upgraded to Interval Gold.

Our first timeshare that we purchased was Peppertree (they paid for II) then they sold to Equivest (they paid for membership) and finally Fairfield/Cendant have purchased Equivest & they still pay our membership.

Also, if you figure out the cost of the $300 (including the II member fee), you can't beat getting a 2 bedroom at Beach Club for the month of July for $300. That equals out to about $40 a night for a deluxe resort on Disney property with a full kitchen & washer/dryer, plus the use of SAB. You can not get a deluxe resort for that price ever with AP discount!!!!


Hope this helps!

Tifany

 

[madelyn]

So with me trying to find a DVC unit for a week sometime between June 3 - June 20, 2004, do you think I should put a request in as well as continue to search the instant confirmations? To limit the match to a 2-bedroom, I'm thinking I input that I have 5 people and nothing less than a 2-bed will accomodate that size party, right. Meanwhile, if it turns out that none of my extended family can travel with us and I find a 1-bedroom or efficiency through instant confirmation or decide to go with a Marriott property through instant confirmation, do I just cancel the request by calling Interval and then the pre-paid fees are refunded? Since it is my SIL timeshare week I am trading with, I also have to pay an additional guest certificate fee, which I think is $39. Also, if it turns out no more than 4 of us will be traveling, can a request be changed without any additional fees? Although then a match could potentially be an efficiency or a 1-bed and I'm not sure I'd be as happy in an efficiency at OKW. From what I understand, I don't have the right to refuse a match?

 

[Dean]

Originally posted by JudyS
Thanks everyone for the replies!

My understanding is that in addition to the $125 II exchange fee and the Disney $95 resort fee, there is also a fee of $79 (or a bit less if you join for multiple years at a time) to join II. So, I'm assuming that there's around $300 in fees one has to pay in order to trade *into* DVC.

Dean (or anyone else here), how often have you tried to trade into the DVC and failed? In other words, were those times you got a DVC trade the only times you tried, or were there also (lots of) times you requested a DVC trade but one never came through?

Dean, you said, "The largest issue seems to be the number of DVC units on deposit for a given resort" -- do you mean the number deposited by OKW, BWV, etc, or did you mean something else?

II has a yearly membership fee but that is irregardless of whether you trade to DVC or not. If one were only buying to trade in to DVC or only joining II for the same purpose, it's not reasonable to do so. All the trades I've done are instant matches but if one is looking for a specific time, etc definitely do an ongoing search. You're chances of success are much higher.

One thing to be clear about is that MOST people who try to trade into DVC are unsuccessful. Those that want 1 BR or smaller, looking for off season, willing to wait until 60 days out or less AND are very flexible are the ones likely to be successful. Remember DVC will not deposit Premier time (Easter and Xmas).

 

[Dean]

Originally posted by JudyS
Dean, you said, "The largest issue seems to be the number of DVC units on deposit for a given resort" -- do you mean the number deposited by OKW, BWV, etc, or did you mean something else?

The number of units for EACH DVC resort will determine (it appears) the trade power of each DVC resort.

 

[madelyn]

Guess I need to be patient and wait a couple of weeks to see if anything for June shows up. Could someone clarify the occupancy limits for a DVC 1-bed? Last year we stayed at an OKW 1-bed with 3 adults and my 2 kids, 4 yrs and 1 year at the time. I thought that the occupancy was 4 people plus a child under 2. But then I read somewhere else that a child under 3 was allowed. If under 3 is allowed, then we would fit in a 1-bed, since my younger son is 2 years old. And that would mean a greater likelihood of finding something at DVC, since almost everything I've seen show up in my searches has been a 1-bed at OKW or efficiencies.

 

[madelyn]

Just wanted to update that I booked a 1-bedroom this morning at OKW for June 5-12. It was tempting to see what other choices showed up but since last Mon and then Tue I saw 1-bedrooms at OKW on Interval and then nothing until today for my dates, I decided to jump on it. Thanks again for everyone's help! On a side note, we most likely will check out early since I have pre-paid Priceline ressies for two rooms at the Dolphin. Since we will be there only 5 nights instead of 7, I was wondering if they would be able to upgrade me to a 2-bedroom for the 5 nights we would be there. A few years ago, my sister checked into her pre-paid reservations (travel agent pkg) at a BWV studio a couple of days late since her flight was cancelled due to bad weather. She was upgraded at check in to a 1-bedroom without asking. Was just wondering if it was worth inquiring about an upgrade at check-in or would this be something they wouldn't be able to do since it was an Interval Exchange?

 

[rocketriter]

You can always ask. Just don't count on it.