Ins and outs of Interval. It is what it is.

[Justjean]

Interval International is tricky but one can use it for what it is...an alterantive to a fairly high rated timeshare that you want to exchange for limited but fairly good choices. II and interval gold are cheaper to buy online directly through the wesbste, as needed, when you book. 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. They must also accept that a really great resort opening up at the last minute is not likely. 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.

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 desireable.

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. Sometimes you can just browse and find something quite neat. The drawbacks are that you have to commit your week first in order to browse 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. 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.

If you can stomach the wierdness, 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.

[GrayFal]

Hello JJ - Welcome to TS4Ms...I have responded to your post below in CAPS

Originally Posted by Justjean

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.

[happymum]

I have been a member of II for about 3 years now and my experiences have been similar to Grayfal's. I have been able to plan in advance and have been pleased with the exchanges I have received. I have also been able to book some Getaways in off-seasons at very favorable prices.

[DaytonaBeachRep]

If you really want what you want when you want it, own a very valuable week!
Example- Daytona500 week. Trade that from any resort in Daytona and you can get into key west if you want. Key West is one of the hardest to get.
I have been a rep for 8 yrs and have over 500 owners. The owners who have race week or bike week are the happiest. They trade and get what ever they want.

[lawren2]

Originally Posted by DaytonaBeachRep

If you really want what you want when you want it, own a very valuable week!
Example- Daytona500 week. Trade that from any resort in Daytona and you can get into key west if you want. Key West is one of the hardest to get.
I have been a rep for 8 yrs and have over 500 owners. The owners who have race week or bike week are the happiest. They trade and get what ever they want.

Then they are among the very few Florida owners that do.

The happiest owners are the ones that own where they want to return year after year or own points in a system that has resorts in areas that they want to travel to.

Buying to exchange is not the easiest way to Nirvana. It can be acheived. Many of us have been able to do that for years but it gets harder and harder. As you mention owning a "valuable week".

I would think owners of race & bike weeks would be better off renting their units and then using the proceeds to cover their MFs and rent where they want to go.

JMHO

[DaytonaBeachRep]

Top rental for bike week= 350 a night
Cost for Marriott @7 days= 400 a night

You would pay $3000 for a bad a** vacation at the Marriott or comparable any where in the world.

Or just trade your race/bike week....

And who wants to really go to the same place forever! Lol

[lawren2]

DBR,

:Welcome: to TS4ms.

I gather from your posts that you sell timeshare in some form or another.

You, on the other hand, have no idea who I am or my knowledge of trading/renting/using. .

I am not someone who bought to use every year but we have many members that do just that. And they are very satisfied whether they bought retail or resale.

The main rule of ownership and even the "evil empire" states clearly in it's propaganda that you should own where you want to use and not expect full value trades for prime holiday weeks if that is what you need.

You did allude to that in your post so I'm giving you the benefit of the doubt at the moment. Until you divulge who/what you really are.

We welcome industry people here. The ones that want to help the members with their insight and knowledge anyway. We keep an eye out for vultures though so know that I am watching.

[SteveChapin]

I concur with HappyMum and Grayfal. II has more "wheat" and less "chaff" from what I can see. They don't have the raw numbers of resorts that RCI has, but I like being able to choose Marriotts, Starwood, etc. in II that I don't see much of in RCI.

The key is to have a good week with which to trade. Having a so-so week is frustrating, because there's just not much out there to trade for---you can't see the good stuff, and you won't want what you can see. Then again, that's true in RCI too. Those white/pink weeks do come in handy to pick up last minute trades, but you can't use them to plan 1+ years in advance if you want to go to 5-*/Gold Crown resorts.

So, if you want to plan in advance, own a strong trader. If you want to work the system with a so-so trader, you have to be flexible.

Regards,

sc
--

[bezerk]

I am a memebr of II, and have a studio unit deposited. I am not traveling now, but I have like two years to use it anyway, jusy have a few questions. I have not as yet used II, only RCI and SFX, so am not familiar with it at all, so please bear with my ignorance.

I would like to know from Grayfal and others.......do you think th eGold membership is worth it and would you suggest others buy it or not???

As most of you know I have many timeshares and though somewhat flexible, I do have to work within hubby's work schedule and so many timeshares along with th efact I am a planner so last minute vacations usually do not work fo rme and for the most part I do not need extra vacations I have hard enough time using what I have LOL.

Thanks all....happy vacations>>>

[littlestar]

Originally Posted by bezerk

I am a memebr of II, and have a studio unit deposited. I am not traveling now, but I have like two years to use it anyway, jusy have a few questions. I have not as yet used II, only RCI and SFX, so am not familiar with it at all, so please bear with my ignorance.

I would like to know from Grayfal and others.......do you think th eGold membership is worth it and would you suggest others buy it or not???
>>>

We have the Gold membership because we tend to book a lot of cash Getaways for family and friends. We probably book at least 10 Getaways a year. So saving that $25.00 per Getaway with the Gold membership is worth it for us.

II also has a new split week exchange program for Gold members, but I haven't used it yet.