Interval International

[M0005]

Hi! I know many members here would comment something along the lines of "My DVC membership is for Disney vacations only" and I totally understand that way of thinking. BUT....

For those of you who have used II, tell me/brag about your II "wins" - either using DVC points or another timeshare/fractional ownership. I would like to understand what is possible, should we ever go that route! Also happy to hear horror stories/regrets so I can avoid making the same decision.

 

[Brian Noble]

Well, most of my II wins are exchanging into DVC. But, some of the better ones:

• Using an AC (a bonus week) for Vidanata's Grand Mayan @ Nuevo Vallarta in February (peak season for them). The resort fee at the Vidanta locations is very high, but the total cost using an AC is still very reasonable compared to renting.
• A 1BR at Marriott's Kauai Beach Club in mid-summer. This is a hotel conversion, and it shows. But the room was *right in front of" the ocean, and I really like the Lihue location on Kauai. Given rental rates, this could be a reasonable use of DVC points.
• I haven't had the occasion to do this yet, but the Orlando Marriotts often have very attractive getaway pricing.
• The "in-city" Marriotts (San Diego, San Francisco, New York, DC) might be decent exchange values if a studio works, because studios are relatively low in points, and they don't adjust for the high-density location.
• I have a diamond-in-the-rough exchange coming up at Ke Nani Kai on Molokai. I don't think I'd use DVC points for that, but it should be a fun use of my unbranded trader.

Note that all my exchanges (including deposits that generated an AC) used my unbranded trader. I would not use DVC points unless I had to.

 

[M0005]

@Brian Noble
Very cool. You used the term 'unbranded trader' a couple of times. Would you mind explaining that term to me? It's not one I am familiar with.

 

[eticketplease]

Hi! I know many members here would comment something along the lines of "My DVC membership is for Disney vacations only" and I totally understand that way of thinking. BUT....

For those of you who have used II, tell me/brag about your II "wins" - either using DVC points or another timeshare/fractional ownership. I would like to understand what is possible, should we ever go that route! Also happy to hear horror stories/regrets so I can avoid making the same decision.

I don't have enough points to go this route but am curious as well.

I have played with cash getaways of the site which looks to return decent prices but with set schedules it seems hard to get something to come up during school breaks.

 

[Brian Noble]

You used the term 'unbranded trader' a couple of times.

Interval is owned by Marriott, and the two main Marriott timeshare brands (MVC and Sheraton/Westin) have priority in exchanging back into their own system. Most new deposits can only be "seen" by owners in the same system for about a week, and then another several days when they can only be seen by in-system and sister-system owners. After that, the leftovers are available to anyone not in one of those systems.

So, an "unbraded" trader is one that is neither Marriott nor Starwood. Usually it means something in a smaller resort system or an independent. Technically, DVC is also "unbranded" by this definition, but no one would use it that way over on TUG.

it seems hard to get something to come up during school breaks.

Getaway inventory comes from one of two places. One: inventory that the resort management company owns and makes available for rent, hoping to drum up some new blood for the timeshare sales machine. Two: exxchange deposits that have not been taken for some period of time after deposit. So very high demand time is usually not in the Getaway set, and if it is it is unlikely to be cheap.

 

[eticketplease]

So very high demand time is usually not in the Getaway set, and if it is it is unlikely to be cheap.

So it seems like I should just book through Bonvoy and get the points for a stay at Sheraton Vistana Resort?

 

[Brian Noble]

You will get elite night credits for getaway stays, but not the bonvoy points (for what they are worth). Depends on the Getaway price.