Interval International is tricky but one can use it for what it is...an alternative to a fairly high rated timeshare that you want to exchange for limited but fairly good choices.
II IS AN EXCHANGE COMPANY - WHERE YOU DEPOSIT YOUR OWNED WEEK AND EXCHANGE FOR ANOTHER WEEK - "LIKE FOR LIKE" - MEANING THE SAME 'TYPE' OF RESORT IN QUALITY AND GENERALLY THE SAME UNIT SIZE AS U R GIVING THEM. MY PERSONAL EXPERIENCE HAS BEEN THAT MY CHOICES ARE NOT LIMITED BUT EXTENSIVE CHOICES. THE PROBLEM I RUN INTO IS IF I WANT TO TRADE DOWN IN QUALITY OF RESORT - THEN U HAVE TO CALL AND TELL II YOU WILL ACCEPT A TRADE INTO A LESSER RESORT.
II and interval gold are cheaper to buy online directly through the website, as needed, when you book.
YOU HAVE TO BELONG (HAVE A MULTI-YEAR MEMBERSHIP) TO THE COMPANY IN ORDER TO EXCHANGE YOUR WEEK. PRICING OFTEN VARIES FOR DIFFERENT MEMBERSHIPS AND OWNER PROMOTIONS.
Do NOT pay more to people who phone you "on behalf of" Interval I or Gold just before your membership expires.
II is probably best suited to very flexible owners, especially for those who are footloose and fancy-free and those who can afford financially to take off on the spur of the moment as regards their flights.
I DISAGREE - I MAKE MOST OF MY EXCHANGES 10-13 MONTHS BEFORE TRAVEL - I LIKE TO DO THIS AS I FREQUENTLY USE FF MILES TO TRAVEL AND NEED TO BOOK AT 11 MONTHS.
They must also accept that a really great resort opening up at the last minute is not likely.
TRUE
Mostly there will be the slightly less nice resorts which happen to have a lot of inventory left. You will sometimes exchange for a LOT less than the rack rate; sometimes the value works out about the same as you can get on the internet anyway.
Those who must plan ahead or watch budget carefully are probably better off with an "everything included" type vacation with travelocity [or whatever] than to have a timeshare to begin with. [Too late smart.
I FIND TS TRAVEL QUITE COST EFFECTIVE AS IT ALLOWS ME THE OPTION TO USE THE KITCHEN IN THE UNIT FOR SOME MEALS - I FIND MOST "AI" ALL-INCLUSIVE RESORTS TO BE OVERPRICED FOR WHAT U GET AND TOO LIMITING.
Those members who need to plan ahead should understand that there might be some fairly nice resort available well in advance, but they are likely to be available when the weather is extreme or otherwise less desirable.
NOT MY EXPERIENCE - WHEN TRADING 10-13 MONTHS OUT, I TRAVEL DURING HIGH SEASON AND SCHOOL VACATION TIME.
If you can get past the above, you II can get you a two and even three bedroom exchanges for a fairly good one bedroom timeshare.
THIS USUALLY OCCURS WHEN TRADING FROM HIGH DEMAND TIME INTO SHOULDER OR LOW SEASON - NOT A BAD THING!
Sometimes you can just browse and find something quite neat.
YUP
The drawbacks are that you have to commit your week first in order to browse
NOT TRUE, WITH II - U CAN SEARCH WITHOUT DEPOSITING YOUR WEEK. IF U DO NOT KNOW HOW TO DO THIS (AS THIS IS THE SECOND TIME U HAVE POSTED THIS INCORRECT INFO) JUST LET US KNOW AND WE WILL WALK U THRU IT.
and you need to be able to afford to travel - to say Australia or wherever. A mixed bag.
The other thing to watch is when you book in advance you will probably wind up having to commit to buying another membership.
MY MEMBERSHIP GOES AT LEAST 3 IF NOT MORE YEARS INTO THE FUTURE SO I CAN DEPOSIT AND SEARCH/REQUEST WITHOUT DIFFICULTY. IF I CHOOSE TO LEAVE II THEY WILL REFUND MY UNUSED MEMBERSHIP YEARS.
They have a very tricky presentation. They first list Interval International on the left half of the page and Interval Gold on the right. If you say no thanks to Interval Gold, it brings up a page saying you have yet to chose something from Gold...no opportunity to say "no thanks" this time. If you back click to the previous page and click "No Thanks" again [might be twice you have to do that] it will finally give you a page where you can click just one year of Interval International only, BUT they have NOW switched the II offer from left to right,
SO if you NOW automatically choose the bottom-most item you have now chosen Interval Gold which is more expensive.
Really slicky tricky stuff. Read your order summary and go back if you have to.
THIS IS NOT A TRICK - IT IS A "GLITCH" IN THE SYSTEM - I HAD THE PROBLEM WITH ONE OF MY TWO ACCOUNTS - I CALLED II INTERNET SUPPORT AND THEY WERE ABLE TO FIX IT - YOU SHOULD NOT GET STUCK ON THAT PAGE!!! YOU DO NOT HAVE TO TAKE A GOLD MEMBERSHIP
If you can stomach the weirdness, you CAN probably get a pretty good deal SOMEWHERE, possibly be able to get a larger timeshare, [no point in getting a larger timeshare if you only mostly want to exchange] IF you can work out all the details and afford to get there and eat too. Hope this was helpful to those who are still deciding or trying to figure II out.
