One of the biggest issues with timeshares is their availability. It always seems like there is no availability for the specific timeshares that you want or there is no availability for the time period you want to travel.
The reason for this is that most timeshares allow you to book very far in advance. Both RCI and Interval International allow you to book 2 years in advance. Therefore, most timeshare owners that know how the systems work and know how to maximize their ownership make sure to plan as far in advance as possible so that they can get the resorts and weeks that they want. If you are trying to get a prime week but regular searches of current inventory, you will likely be disappointed in what is available and when. There are exemptions but generally, you need to put in an ongoing Request or Deposit First. In this post, I wanted to explain how to use Interval Internationals' Request First function. The Request First function is different than the Deposit First. Using the Request First, Interval International will take your points once you complete the exchange request but if they do not fulfill your request, you will receive your points back in the original program. With Deposit First, it is a one way transfer where you convert your original timeshare points into Interval International Points. If you cancel the request, you can only book using Interval International. Using Request First When you first login to Interval International, you will see the toolbar up top. Choose "Exchange". Once you click on "Exchange", you are brought the following screen. When you get to this screen, you can search in three different ways. 1. You can search by destination; 2. You can search all destinations; or 3. You can search by Resort Name. When you search in this way, all the currently available units will come up in inventory. If you see something that you want, you should definitely confirm the exchange. If a particular destination or resort does not come up for your time period, you should continue on and do a "Place Request". In order to get to the "Place Request", you need to click on "My Units". This will bring you to the following screen. As you can see from the attached screenshot, My Unit under this account is the Hyatt Beach House Resort. I have two ongoing searches and on the bottom, there is the option for the "Place Request". When you go to "Place Request", it brings up the following exchange chart. Since this is for my Hyatt week, the exchange chart shows you how many points it will take for the Travel Demand Index (TDI) and size of unit. As I indicated before, most weeks and desirable locations require the highest amount of points so I generally do not even focus on the lower TDI amounts. The numbers in the above chart are clickable and by clicking on of the numbers, this will be the amount of points that will be used for the "Request First" exchange. Even if you do not have enough points for the potential exchange, I would simply click on 1,300. If you wanted a 3 or 4 bedroom, than I would click on 1,730 or 2,160 accordingly. This will not actually take your points at this stage. Interval will only take the amount of points based on the choices made on the following screen. On the next screen, you are given a choice on the number of travelers, size of bedroom, whether you want or need a kitchen or whether there are any special facilities. This screen allows you to choose the size of the unit. If you only want a 2 bedroom, you need to click the 2 bedroom. You can choose one or more of the size of units. IMPORTANT: Only choose the size of the unit that you want. If you choose all three, Interval International will take the entire amount of points for the largest unit selected (1,300) and confirm you into a week for the first available size. You will be refunded the difference if a smaller unit is confirmed. If you only want a 1 bedroom, DO NOT CHOOSE the studio unit. For this example, I chose a 2 bedroom unit with a kitchen for 2 adults. For the next part, you need to add the destination. This part is extremely important. When you add the destination, depending on where you want to go, a large list of resorts will be shown. You need to click on each resort to add it to the request. For this example, I will choose Kauai, Hawaii (one of my favorite destinations).
As you can see in the above, a list of all resorts in the Interval International Directory will come up. You need to click on each one that you want to request.
IMPORTANT: Not all timeshares are created equal. Some are very high quality resorts that meet or exceed some of the nicest hotels. Others have a lot to be desired. Interval attempts to differentiate these resorts by use of their resort designations. Here is how Interval International uses these symbols: Interval International Elite Resorts Interval International Elite Resorts are the very best of Interval’s network, providing an extraordinary vacation experience, exceptional service, and luxurious features and appointments. They are identified by the lotus, a symbol of purity and perfection . Interval International Premier Resorts Interval International Premier Resorts, debuting as the highest level of recognition, provide an outstanding vacation experience, with state-of-the-art conveniences, and modern features and appointments. They are identified by the laurel, a symbol of distinction, high standards and status. Within this level of recognition, Premier Boutique Resorts provide an outstanding vacation experience, with excellent accommodations in desirable locations, and limited on-site amenities. Interval International Select Resorts Interval International Select Resorts provide a great vacation experience, and are distinguished by a comfortable and homelike atmosphere. As such, they are identified by the pineapple, a centuries-old symbol of hospitality, welcome, friendliness, and warmth. Within this level of recognition,Select Boutique Resorts provide a great vacation experience, with comfortable, homelike accommodations in desirable locations, and limited on-site amenities.
When you choose your resorts, I try to make sure that they have some designation. I generally prefer the Elite or Premier properties. Make sure to do your research on the various properties before choosing. IMPORTANT: You can also do various searches in this by searching by brand (Hyatt, Marriott, etc.). Also, a lot of the resorts that may have one of the designations listed above may not show up in this search. Make sure to to use the Resort Directory to choose any resorts that you want to exchange into and use their Resort Code (3 letter code). Once you have chosen the resorts, you need to choose the earliest and latest travel date. If you want a specific week like Christmas week, make sure to choose those specific dates.
In the example, above, I originally put in December 22, 2018 as my earliest travel date and December 29, 2018 as my latest travel date. The system will automatically revise your dates for the Thursday before the desired dates. This way the system will automatically confirm for you weeks starting on Thursday, Friday or Saturday.
The system also allows you to add additional destinations and dates within the same request. You can have multiples weeks in the same request as well as multiple resorts.
As you can see, I added some ski properties in Vail, Colorado for spring break.
IMPORTANT: You can add many different weeks and many different resorts for one exchange. However, as soon as something matches, the "Request First" exchange will be considered complete and the remaining exchanges will be cancelled. For example, if one of my requests matched for Vail, Colorado, the Request First match for Hawaii would be cancelled. TIP: If you know that you will want two weeks, it is better to do two separate Request First requests. You will have to pay two exchange fees up front but they will be independent of one another so that once one matches, the other Request First will continue to search.
On the next page, you are offered the ability to choose E-Plus and a Guest Certificate. There is generally no reason to do a guest certificate at this stage even if you are going to have a guest. You can add a Guest Certificate at any time. Guest Certificates are normally $59 or free with Interval Platinum membership which is why it shows as zero under my account.
If you are not familiar with E-Plus, I wrote about it here. It is a great add on feature that allows you to trade your confirmed week 3 times without any fee. You can either choose to pay for it now or when your week is confirmed, you should have 3 days to make the decision. I almost always choose E-Plus since it gives me a lot of flexibility. Once confirmed, you are essentially locked in to your week so if you needed to cancel, you will loose your exchange fee and be given a replacement week that generally has more restrictions than your original deposit. E-Plus removes this issue and you can exchange your confirmed week 3 times for 2 years past the confirmed week. Once this is complete, you are brought to the final page which indicates all the details that you inserted along with the exchange fee of $189 and the optional E-Plus fee of $54. Once you hit continue and pay the required fee, the system will automatically search for a match. If a match occurs, you will be automatically confirmed into that week. For example, in my example above, I can either be confirmed for a ski week in Vail OR christmas week in Hawaii. Once one of those requests go through, the remaining requests are cancelled. Once the request is placed, you can review, revise, add, subtract or cancel your request through the "My Units". Under My Units, you can see the various requests. Under my account, I have two requests pending. You can simply go to "Review Request" to modify the specifics. If you modify the size of the unit desired, Interval will either take more points from your account or re-deposit points if you request a smaller unit. Conclusion: If you want to get the most desirable timeshare weeks, you MUST plan far in advance. By using Request First, you give yourself the best chances of getting the weeks and resorts that you want. This is not the only way to get the best weeks but it is absolutely critical to do if you want any chance of securing great weeks. What requests do you have pending? What resorts / weeks have you received using Request First?
Doctor of Credit has been a very gracious supporter of The Timeshare Guru and has allowed me to post a number of articles on his site regarding timeshares.
I posted a complete guide to renting timeshares on his site which is a great resource for those looking to rent timeshares. I definitely encourage you to review the guide and to frequent the Doctor of Credit's website. His blog is the preeminent place to find bank account deals and has a lot of great travel deals as well as credit card deals. Make sure to leave comments below if you have alternative sources or other tips and tricks to rent timeshares for cheap!
UPDATE: Apparently, there has been some issue with these certificates and Interval has removed them from member accounts. They have indicated that they will be redeposited at some point soon.
Interval International just released an additional accommodations certificate to Interval members. This may be targeted so it may or may not show up in your account. In order to look in your account, you need to go to "Exchange" and go to "My Units". Hopefully, you will see the accommodations certificate listed.
As you can see in the above, I currently have 2 certificates in my account - one that expires in mid July and this new certificate.
This new certificate is valid for travel from June 6, 2017 to January 16, 2018. Take a look at this post for additional information about the Accommodations Certificates. You can reserve up to a 3 bedroom unit which sleeps up to 8 people. Inventory changes daily as does the available destinations. As discussed elsewhere, these certificates generally provide weeks in very low demand seasons or low demand resorts but there have been some stellar finds with these certificates. I have personally seen desireable Hyatt weeks, Marriott weeks and even the brand new Westin Nanea resort in Maui. The fee to reserve a week with these accommodations certificates is $274 for the entire week with no timeshare presentation requirements or usage of your points and/or weeks. Please post in the comments below if you received a new certificate as well as any great sightings! Hyatt Residence Club owners have a variety of ways to exchange their week / points into various other properties. As mentioned in other posts, the Hyatt Residence Club is a hybrid system so you can either use your deeded week or convert your week into points. When you have points, you can either exchange your points internally through the Hyatt Residence Club for other Hyatt Residence Club properties or exchange those points through its trading partner, Interval International, for other timeshares. The one restriction to Hyatt owners is that you cannot use Interval International to exchange into other Hyatt properties. Interval International blocks that inventory so a Hyatt Residence Club owner wanted to use points to trade into other Hyatt properties, they must use the internal trading system. While this isn't a huge deal, it is meaningful. This is because the point requirements to exchange through Interval can be much less than trading through Hyatt internal system. For example, in Interval International, if you wanted to reserve a week in a studio during the highest demand travel season, this would require you to use 430 points. In the Hyatt Residence Club system, if you wanted to reserve a studio unit during the highest demand season, Diamond season, this would require 750 points. This difference in points is almost double. Due to this difference, it can make sense to exchange through Interval instead of internally with Hyatt but the catch is that you cannot reserve Hyatt units through this method since Interval blocks this inventory. As a result, I generally reserve Marriott units, Four Season Units or other high quality units through Interval using my Hyatt points instead of booking through the internal Hyatt system. This provides me with a better use of my points but you cannot stay at Hyatt properties. I like Hyatt properties a lot and tend to gravitate to many of their hotel properties. I have stayed at plenty of the Hyatt Residence Club properties and they are all very luxurious and of high quality. The blocking of Hyatt inventory for Hyatt owners is frustrating but understandable. However, a question came up on whether I could rent Hyatt weeks through Interval Getaways. As I have discussed here, Interval Getaways allow you to book weeks using cash rather than points and do not have any requirements to sit through any timeshare presentations. The pricing for these weeks are generally fantastic and almost impossible to beat when comparing these prices to standard hotel rates. Due to the favorable pricing, I wanted to see available inventory for Hyatt properties to rent instead of Hyatt. I tried to search using all of the resort codes for Hyatt (HRP, HNS, HWP, HYS, HSH, HYK, HYN, HBK, HMS, HSL, HYP, HYA, HCC, HYB, HYI, HRA) and nothing came up. I wasn't sure whether this inventory was purposefully blocked or whether there was simply no availability. I called Interval to check and was told that there is no block on Interval Getaways for Hyatt owners since you are paying cash instead of exchanging your points. However, upon further research, I found out that this was not in fact the case and Interval blocks ALL inventory, regardless of if it is exchange inventory or getaway inventory for Hyatt properties for Hyatt owners. This is disappointing as Hyatt properties are some of the nicest but I guess the reason for blocking this inventory is that Hyatt provides the same functionality within their internal system albeit for higher points and cash requirements. Overall, I think the Hyatt system is one of the best currently although the Hyatt Pure Points systems is on the verge of a complete roll out. Time will tell whether the new Hyatt Pure Points system will be as advantageous but I will be sure to provide a post concerning the new system once all the details are unveiled. For those of you who want to book Hyatt properties through Interval, the only way to do so would be to be a non-Hyatt owner or have a second account for Interval that is not linked to your Hyatt account. Can you see Hyatt inventory through Interval Getaways? If so, post the availability below so that everyone can see pricing and availability.
Fairly frequently, Interval International will run various promotions where you can receive discounted getaway weeks, discounted membership fees, and various other promotional items including a free Resort Accomodations Certificate.
Resort Accomodations Certificates allow you to reserve a week vacation as various resorts and destinations. I posted some information concerning these Resort Accomodations Certificate here. Resort Accomodations Certificate can be somewhat difficult to use but there have been some fantastic weeks that pop up every now and again. Until May 26, 2017, Interval International is running a promotion where you can receive one Resort Accomodations Certificate for each exchange transaction. Basically, if you own a timeshare and exchange your points and/or week through Interval International, you will be given one Resort Accomodations Certificate per transaction. Each certificate will require a redemption fee of between $249 to $449 based on the size of the unit and various taxes. These certificates will be valid for one year after issuance. I still have a Resort Accomodations Certificates in my account which is valid through the beginning of July. Doing a quick search, here a couple of weeks that I can see that can be a great value. As you can see, there are some decent weeks available. Since the new Resort Accomodations Certificate is valid for one year from issuance, I would imagine that you should be able to get great use out of these certificates. But, is this a great deal? If you were going to make an exchange, doing so now in order to get a Resort Accommodations Certificate can be a good deal. It is also possible to make an exchange just to get the Resort Accommodations Certificate and opt-in to getting E-Plus which will allow you to make 3 trades for free. By doing this, you can get a Resort Accommodations Certificate and still be able to exchange your week for future travel. You lose some flexibility with this strategy since you cannot put in an ongoing request but it could be worthwhile. Also, in case you were thinking that using one of your E-plus retrades would trigger the promotion, it won't. Unfortunately, Interval International explicitly states this in the terms. In my opinion, I wouldn't just make a trade for this promotion but if a good week becomes available, getting a Resort Accomodations Certificate is not a bad deal as there are been some truly fantastic weeks that become available with these Resort Accomodations Certificate. I have recently seen 2 bedrooms at Westin Naana (Vistana's newest Maui resort), various Hyatt units, Marriott weeks, prime ski weeks, etc. - all for a total cost of $249-$449 for the week - approximately $35-$65 per night. The fine print indicates that this may be targeted but I think it is is fairly widespread. Did you get this offer? Have you used a Resort Accomodations Certificate before?
A reader recently contacted me concerning a transfer of his Marriott Vacation Club points to Interval International. After the transfer, Interval International did not have the desired week or location and wanted his points transferred back into Marriott Vacation Club points.
Unfortunately for our reader, there are two distinct methods to transfer points into Interval International. With "Request First", a Marriott Vacation Club owner will request a week in Interval International. This can be one or many weeks and one or many resorts. The Marriott Vacation Club points will be taken out of your account immediately BUT if the request goes unfulfilled or you decide to cancel that request, the Marriott Vacation Club points will transfer back to your Marriott Vacation Club account. With "Deposit First", the Marriott Vacation Club owner will immediately transfer points into Interval International and will request the specific week and/or location. If the request is not immediately filled, the Marriott Vacation Club points now become Interval International points and WILL NOT be transferred back. Deposit First is a one way transfer - you cannot transfer those points back into the Marriott Vacation Club. It appears that neither the Marriott Vacation Club or Interval International made this policy clear and our reader mistakenly transferred points from his Marriott Vacation Club account to Interval International under the "Deposit First" mechanism. His attempt to transfer back these points was unsuccessful and was upset that this policy was not made clearer before he made a irrevocable transfer. While this is unfortunate, Marriott Vacation Club owners who make a "Deposit First" have 3 years to use these points within Internal International. Three years is a long time so I would anticipate that these points would not go to waste. The key to getting awesome exchanges is to plan far ahead so I would recommend putting in a request now for various times and resorts as far in advance as possible. The various timeshare point systems are very complex and not every agent or customer service representative fully understands the intricacies of various transfers. Make sure to ask questions up front. The big downside to timeshares is that most reservations and transfers, once confirmed, are in stone and cannot be changed or altered. This is change a bit but is not completely flexible.
Every now and again, Interval International provides its members with an Accomodations Certificate. I have written about these before in this post.
The accomodations certificate provides you with a one week stay in various locations around the world. Sometimes the accomodations certificate is restricted to certain size units and is always restricted by geographic areas. Many times, these accomodations certificates are less than exciting as they mainly offer accomodations in low demand, off peak season destinations. However, other times, some exciting opportunities come up and there are some fantastic deals. Each accomodations certificate is different but most offer one week accomodations for a studio, one bedroom, two bedroom or three bedroom units. While it is not truly free since there is an exchange fee, it is a highly discounted week stay. The exchange fee is $274 plus some taxes. Generally, you are looking at a fee of approximately $300 for seven nights. This works out to approximately $43.00 per night. That is a hard value to beat especially when competing hotels can charge over $300 per night! In order to see if you have received a new accomodations certificate, you need to login to your Interval International account. You click the "Exchange" button found below on the top navigation bar.
Click on "My Units" and if you are lucky enough to get a certificate, they will be showing on the right hand side under "My Certificates".
As you can see, I currently have two certificates available - one that expires on March 31 and one that expires on July 9th.
Unfortunately, the time and destinations do not appear to work out for one of my certificates. The second certificate is currently available through July 9th and actually has a decent amount of good/great inventory. A couple of great finds so far is as follows: 1. Ski week in Vail for February 2. Multiple units at the Grand Bliss in Riviera Maya, Mexico for almost every month offered including summer weeks and Memorial Day weekend. 3. Spring/Early Summer weeks in Mountain destinations (Vail, Breckenridge, Park City, etc.) Inventory with these accomodation certificates vary widely and change by the minute. If you are lucky enough to get one, it pays to search often and constantly. There are been some recent gems that pop up where $300 for a week is an absolute steal! If you have one and reserve a great week, please post below so others can see!
Unfortunately, following on the footsteps of RCI's exchange fee increase discussed here, Interval International apparently wants in on the action and will be increasing its exchange fee. They has informed members in a somewhat cryptic message:
Effective February 15, 2017, the fee will be the same for all full-week exchanges, whether you exchange online on IntervalWorld.com or over the phone with an advisor. All other exchange fees — including those for cruise exchange and ShortStay Exchange® — will remain unchanged. Essentially, this means that the online exchange fee is increasing in price by $10 to match their phone fee. Exchange fees will now be $189 for exchanging online or by the phone. Increased fees are never desired but at least they gave us a little time to plan ahead in order to avoid the increased fee. In order to avoid the fee, you can put in a request first for your desired week and pay $179 for the exchange fee. If it matches after February 15th, you should be all set and do not think that you would be required to pay the increased rate. Here is listing of all the current fees with Interval International including the updated exchange rates. Resort Accommodations Certificates from Interval International - Finding Diamonds in the Rough1/4/2017
I have previously discussed Resort Accommodations Certificates before (click here) but wanted to alert you of some fabulous weeks and resorts being offered. There are some diamonds to be had.
The Resort Accommodations Certificate is given by Interval International usually after an exchange. They can be specifically offered for a exchange or deposit or simply show up in your account as a "Thank You". The current Resort Accommodations Certificate that has been widely given out expired in January but Interval International recently extended this certificates to be used by April 7, 2017. They are valid for up to a 3 bedroom unit. As discussed previously, most of the available weeks and units are less than desirable or are during very low seasons. Unfortunately, I have let many of these expire without use as it simply did not fit my travel plans. This current Resort Accomodations Certificate has fluctuating locations that seem to vary per search. Normally, this would not be newsworthy but I have seen some ridiculously good weeks show up. I have seen a couple of prime ski weeks in Vail, Colorado and Breckenridge as well as a week at the Marriott Kauai resort during January. I currently see some great February weeks for Marriott's property in France by Disneyland, a nice 2 bedroom unit in Kauai and a top of the line property in Las Vegas. As a reminder, if you are lucky enough to get a Resort Accommodations Certificate, you can book one of these weeks for $274 for the entire week. Availability fluctuates by the minute but there are some incredible values to be had. Make sure to continually search if you have an upcoming vacation as booking these weeks could be worth it even if you only have the need for a couple of days. Good luck with the search!
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