When dealing with week-based Marriott Vacation Club ownerships, owners will be able to utilize Interval International to facilitate a trades for traveling to other resorts within the Marriott timeshare collection.
In addition to trading for other Marriott resorts, members may also trade with other timeshare clubs affiliated with Interval International.
Some other timeshare clubs feature an internal trading system, or offer points-based reservation systems. Instead, when you own a weeks-based ownership with Marriott, Interval International can assist you in traveling to other resorts, whether they are within the Marriott resort collection or within another developer’s network.
So, you may be wondering, how does trading with Marriott work? What is Marriott’s trading power in Interval International? In this article, we’ll be covering the basics of exchanging your Marriott timeshare with Interval International.
Depositing Your Week
Before we can discuss Marriott specifically, we should discuss how Interval International (II) works. Members of II may deposit their week, and in exchange II allocates Preferred Points to members, which are, in turn, spent at any of the resort within Interval’s exchange inventory.
There are many factors that go into determining the value of each deposit and the allocated number of Preferred Points placed in a member’s account. These factors include:
Travel Demand Index
Once the receipt of a deposit is received, the converted points will be allocated to your Preferred Points member account. You may use these points to book reservations at other resorts within the II system. We’ve added what’s called the Travel Demand Index below for your review. The higher the TDI (travel demand index), the more Preferred Points needed to book the reservation.
It should be noted that once a week is deposited, II will give you two years from the checkout date to the week for an exchange.
Marriott and Interval International
Marriott owners have a priority window that will allow a first look at the Marriott resorts that are available. Depending on availability and the Marriott property that is deposited, Marriott owners will have exclusive priority to exchange into available weeks. During high-demand seasons, the only time a non-Marriott owner can exchange into a Marriott week is during II’s Flex-Time. Flex-time is 60 days prior to the check-in date and the day of check-in. Flex weeks are usually deposited late by an owner or an exchange that was confirmed months before and is being canceled by an owner. Lower demand periods of Marriott resorts can allow any II affiliated member to confirm a reservation.
When an owner deposits their week into II’s system, owners do not have to travel on their deeded week, giving them much more flexibility. Most of the Marriott properties and units are Interval International Premier Resorts, giving depositing owners the most options when it comes to booking. If you own and deposit a premier level resort, you may be able to exchange for other premier resorts during high demand weeks.
As far as trading power is concerned: Marriott owners will have strong ‘trading power’ with high TDI weeks, premier rated resorts, and weeks that are deposited early. Marriott trading power comes from those three factors. Marriott resorts are highly sought after, especially during peak travel times. As an incentive for Marriott owners to deposit these types of weeks, II will give qualifying deposits bonus accommodation certificates that are valid for one year from the day of the deposit. These bonus weeks give members an extra week to exchange with. Because of this, II will be able to easily find a member who wants to enjoy Marriott accommodations that have been deposited.
Booking Your Exchange
Booking Your ExchangeExchange companies rely on members depositing their weeks or points for other members to use. Since the availability is based mainly on members making a deposit, there may be limited opportunities to book a reservation at a specific resort during a specific window of time.
If a week is not available, a member can place a request. This request is a first come, first serve waiting list. A member can select as many resorts, locations and weeks on a request without limitation. Once a week is available, the week will automatically be confirmed and an email confirmation is sent to that member.
Members often get the best results when they can keep their travel plans flexible. Trying to book a 2 bedroom unit at a specific resort with a check-in date only available for two days, is not likely to become available. However, if you are to keep your availability open for an entire month, your odds become better. Adding a variety of resorts to your searches will also increase the odds of finding an available reservation.
Need More?
If you would like more assistance with trading or exchange companies, and want to speak with a licensed timeshare agent, please feel free to contact us with any questions that you may have.
