Interval Exchange

[Carolrd]

I have a week banked that I need to use, and I noticed that I can save a few $$ if I exchange my week for a cruise. I was wondering if anyone has done this before, and if they had any problems. I also have a savings certificate and hope to be able to use it as well.

 

I would love to hear if anyone has any feedback. TIA

 

Carol

[time4u2go]

You have a week of what banked?

[waterbug123]

You have a week of what banked?

 

"Interval" refers to time share exchanges. The OP must have a time share week that they can swap through Interval.

[Carolrd]

"Interval" refers to time share exchanges. The OP must have a time share week that they can swap through Interval.

 

That's right, Waterbug. I can get a decent discount off of the cruise prices exchanging my timeshare week, for a cruise.

 

Carol

[bus man]

OP, are you Interval Gold? I believe you have to be, in order to exchange for a cruise, but I wouldn't swear to it.

 

I've traded weeks for three different cruises. The savings (over the price quoted on the cruise line's website) ranged from good to great. It's not a hard process. I find that the telephone agents in Interval's cruise department are more competent and easier to deal with than the general exchange department, so be sure and call the cruise department. Make sure you've paid your maintenance fee and deposited your week before you attempt to exchange it.

[JustCruisin2012]

OP, are you Interval Gold? I believe you have to be, in order to exchange for a cruise, but I wouldn't swear to it.

 

I've traded weeks for three different cruises. The savings (over the price quoted on the cruise line's website) ranged from good to great. It's not a hard process. I find that the telephone agents in Interval's cruise department are more competent and easier to deal with than the general exchange department, so be sure and call the cruise department. Make sure you've paid your maintenance fee and deposited your week before you attempt to exchange it.

 

I did a cruise exchange with Interval in January 2012, and the experience has soured me with that company! Here's what happened. Just as "bus man" posted, Interval required that I upgrade from my standard membership to Gold membership for $59. Then, on top of that they charged a $174 cruise exchange fee, just for the privilege of doing a cruise exchange! Then, after I did the math, they ended up only giving me a dollar-for-dollar exchange rate for the week that I deposited. So, as for me, there was no "great deal" that made it worth my while to ever want to do this again. The way I see it, the $174 cruise exchange fee plus the $59 upgrade to Gold membership fee "ate up" $233 of my maintenance fees!

 

That was just the matter of the financial side of the transaction. The Interval customer service representative and his supervisor that I dealt with were marginally helpful. What happened was that I was originally quoted a certain dollar amount that I would have to pay through Interval, after their fees were deducted. I agreed with that price, then had to call back the next after they processed my timeshare exchange with my home resort. When I called the next day, the customer service rep told me that my final cost was actually going to be a little over $200 higher than was previously quoted. I asked why and was told that they had to "reprice" my timeshare exchange. I was flabbergasted, but what was I to do? After thinking about it overnight, I decided to call Interval again, only this time I asked to speak to a supervisor. He told me he wasn't sure about my situation but that he would research it. I called the Interval supervisor the next day, and he replied that the little more that $200 extra charge was the cost of pre-paid gratuities that needed to be billed because I had chosen My Time Dining (yes, that is a Royal Caribbean policy that I knew about). This begs the question: why didn't the original Interval customer service rep know this? Furthermore, I was told that I would receive an email of this transaction within 2 days. I waited 2 days. I even waited 3 days and still received nothing. I called on the 4th day and was told that the original customer service rep had the day off, so "sorry, you'll have to wait." On the 5th day, I left a voicemail with the supervisor, after which I received the promised email at the end of the day.

 

Unreasonably high exchange fees...unkowledgeable customer service reps...having to be a "pain" to get an email I was promised...Interval, never again!

[Carolrd]

Thanks for your feedback. I did a mock reservation through Interval and came up with a price of $1860 for 2 on Freedom in Oct 2012. Same cabin on RCCL was at $2450, so I thought this was a great savings. When I called Interval, the rep told me that his price was $2250 for 2 and that I could not apply the $150 savings certificate for this sailing.

 

I also asked if the reservation would stay with Interval or can I transfer it to RCCL, he told me it would stay with Interval. I am definitely not crazy with that, as I like to have control over the reservation. I will probably just stick with booking with RCCL and use the certificate.

 

Again, thanks for your help.

 

Carol

[bus man]

I did a cruise exchange with Interval in January 2012, and the experience has soured me with that company! Here's what happened. Just as "bus man" posted, Interval required that I upgrade from my standard membership to Gold membership for $59. Then, on top of that they charged a $174 cruise exchange fee, just for the privilege of doing a cruise exchange! Then, after I did the math, they ended up only giving me a dollar-for-dollar exchange rate for the week that I deposited. So, as for me, there was no "great deal" that made it worth my while to ever want to do this again. The way I see it, the $174 cruise exchange fee plus the $59 upgrade to Gold membership fee "ate up" $233 of my maintenance fees!

 

 

Unreasonably high exchange fees...unkowledgeable customer service reps...having to be a "pain" to get an email I was promised...Interval, never again!

 

You raise a good point. In my experience, the cost savings have been good -- BUT, you have to compare it with what you would have otherwise done with your timeshare week. If you're going to use the week to exchange for a land-based resort, then maybe the cruise savings is worth it, and maybe it isn't. In my case, the weeks I traded for cruises were weeks that I otherwise wasn't going to use at all, so they would have otherwise been wasted.

 

Oh, and when I said that I got good deals, I was taking into account the exchange fee and the Gold upgrade. I didn't count the maintenance fee, because as a timeshare owner, I would have had to pay that whether I exchanged or not. (Fixed costs versus variable costs.)

 

"Unknowledgable customer service reps" -- yeah, I hear you. All I can say is, the cruise department reps are much better than the general exchange reps.

 

If I had to do it over, I'm not sure I would have bought a timeshare. But since I did, I figure I might as well get as much benefit out of it as I can.