Looks like booking 12 mos out for Caribbean through Interval is Tough!

[jerseygal]

Tried using Developer Points through Interval booking Caribbean for next August..
Tried Aruba, Cancun..In fact, nothing much available at all 12 mos out.

Member services said best way is to go on waitlist and list all available dates and properties...Computer will asign when unit, match, becomes available based upon listed properties and dates you can travel..
Points are committed at that time????She said points are committed at that time..If you don't want unit, then you can't use those points for 1 yr through Interval?

Another words, could be April-May 09 when unit becomes available for August travel...Airline rates will presumably be higher then..

Interval International seems good "on paper" but it seems like it is luck of the draw and probably will come through most 4-5 mos before planned trip which may make it hard to get a good airline value!

Thoughts?

 

[kbtennant]

We had this problem back in Oct 07. We tried booking Antigua for Oct 08 to celebrate our 10th anniversary & pretty much everything was booked. They said you can now book 2 years in advance, so availability was limited. We are now going to St. Martin, which wasn't even one of choices, but I'm getting excited now that it's getting closer!

 

[ibela]

I'm currently on a waitlist too. Points aren't committed until a match comes through - says my MS guy and the online site reflects my points are untouched too. It's not entirely luck of the draw, only select criteria you'd be happy with. If it doesn't come through so be it, if it does then you got what you wanted.

Also, if it's close to the time and you're worried about airfare and still haven't received a match, you can cancel the wait list and lose nothing.

 

[Brian Noble]

Many Interval owners cannot deposit time until one year in advance, and most will not deposit until closer to when they have to pay their annual fees---you might be a little bit early for next August.

Putting a request in and letting it ride until early next year wouldn't be a bad idea.

 

[Dean]

I think this is one of the big misperceptions that DVC owners have about II, that it's a reservation system. It's an exchange system with limited activity for the good stuff. Thus if one wants anything good you should expect to put in a request and wait on it and should NOT expect to just call up and secure it. There are a number of factors that come into play and make me thing it's not a good value for DVC members including that DVC really doesn't have that good of a trade power, the relative cost of DVC, the fact that MOST trades are down trades and the risks if you have to change or cancel.

 

[Lisa P.]

You were given appropriate advice by MS. Put in your request now for next August. If it doesn't match by the time most people have to pay their maint fees (usually January, perhaps February), and if airfares are getting high, you can cancel your unmatched search then and nothing was risked. That's still 7-8 months before travel to seek good airfares.

If this is not enough lead time (ex., if you're using FF miles), you'll need to plan this Aruba/Cancun vacation another way (rent from an owner or through a company or travel agent). But I'd think August in Cancun would not be that hard to match within a couple weeks or months. Perhaps it's worth it for you to just start the search and decide how long you're willing to wait before cancelling the search. Put a reminder on your calendar to cancel then. No harm in searching and watching for a month or two, is there? It should not be any more difficult to locate a good August travel package or rental for Aruba/Cancun if you are looking for it this fall than if you are looking this week.

Also, if you decided to search/wait much longer, until perhaps airfare could become prohibitive, have a back-up vacation idea in mind, for when and where else you may enjoy a vacation through II, which is not quite as tough a trade. Use this back-up plan for either August '09 or some other time in the next year or two. Having a back-up use for your II-committed points would assure you that they wouldn't go to waste. They would still be used for a nice vacation, if you confirm your Aruba/Cancun vacation and later cancelled due to airfare problems.

Hope this post is making sense!

 

[Princess Tink]

Not an exchange genuis....I'll leave that to Dean, and they others. But, I can tell you from experience that you have to be patient. I have traded twice, and both times had to put in the request and wait.

The first time, in June 2005 I put in a REQUEST for a 1BR for a week in cancun (the Royals Resorts, listed all but 1)...rec'd the call saying the trade came through, and it all happened in a couple weeks time.

FFW a couple years. This time I deposited the points 07/15/08, as some were developer pts. Put in a REQUEST for 1BR at the Royal Caribbean (only, cuz we loved it so much last time), and gave them 2 weeks that we were interested in. I called MS to check on my req 07/23/08 (8 days later) and they informed me the request came back with an offer. They have to offer it, as it wasn't an EXACT match. It was for a 2BR for the Royal Caribbean for the first week I had requested. Yippee, I was ecstatic! Of course we accepted the 'offer'!

So, the moral of my story.....is more than likely you have to be patient to get a good trade. Make sure you are willing to accept any and all weeks/resorts you list though....cuz, if you turn down one on your list, you will have to pay an addiional exchange fee from what I understand.

Good luck!