Eplus Retrades: The Shadow World

I have recently become a huge fan of Interval's eplus retrades. I purchased my first eplus retrade a couple months ago for a spring break exchange to Las Vegas and was able to "upgrade" from a 2BR at Tahiti to a 2BR at Marriott Grand Chateau.

Last month, I did a flexchange for a studio at Marriott Ko Olina for my cousin and her daughter, who will be accompanying us to Hawaii. I also purchased eplus, and have been diligently doing retrade searches several times a day for a larger unit if it became available. Yesterday morning, I changed up my technique slightly and, instead of searching all destinations, narrowed my search to "mko,mk1", clicking the search button every few minutes. I didn't really like this approach because I like seeing search results, even if they are not the ones I want. But after one of these narrower searches, a 1BR just popped up and I immediately clicked through and did a retrade.

I was feeling lucky, and did the same thing this morning, not expecting any matches of course. After several refreshes over a 15 minute period or so, a 2BR unit fell from the heavens and onto my computer screen. I retraded up once again! In less than 18 hours I went from a studio to a 2BR at MKO!

This got me thinking. Has e-plus opened up a shadow world of availability in II for units that get snatched up instantaneously and few ever have the opportunity to see? Have pre-paid retrades opened up more competition for units than existed before?

You have to add in the dc enrolled weeks trading through II as well with unlimited M to M retrades as additional competition.

Congrats! I hope to accomplish the same thing next month for Hawaii. Can I ask how many days away from the start of your trip it was when you made these trades?

tschwa2 said:

You have to add in the dc enrolled weeks trading through II as well with unlimited M to M retrades as additional competition.

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Yes, these were already in the mix prior to eplus. Eplus has presumably expanded the competition significantly.

sun starved Gayle said:

Congrats! I hope to accomplish the same thing next month for Hawaii. Can I ask how many days away from the start of your trip it was when you made these trades?

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I made these retrades yesterday and this morning for my trip in 3 1/2 wks. Keep hope alive.

Beefnot said:

Yesterday morning, I changed up my technique slightly and, instead of searching all destinations, narrowed my search to "mko,mk1", clicking the search button every few minutes.

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Do you really think narrowing your search changed your results? or was it clicking the search button every few minutes (regardless of what area/resorts you searched for)?

Also - could be coincidence but I've noticed that clicking refresh does not always truely do a refresh, but instead it seems I need to redo the entire search to get different results.

lmkucala said:

Do you really think narrowing your search changed your results? or was it clicking the search button every few minutes (regardless of what area/resorts you searched for)?

Also - could be coincidence but I've noticed that clicking refresh does not always truely do a refresh, but instead it seems I need to redo the entire search to get different results.

Click to expand...

I highly doubt that changing the technique itself changed my results. It just made for a more focused and faster way to search for my singular goal. Before, I would search all locations and then periodically either hit F5, or click a random location and then re-do the all locations search. Simply searching for one resort and hitting the search button every couple minutes was much quicker.

Beefnot said:

I highly doubt that changing the technique itself changed my results. It just made for a more focused and faster way to search for my singular goal. Before, I would search all locations and then periodically either hit F5, or click a random location and then re-do the all locations search. Simply searching for one resort and hitting the search button every couple minutes was much quicker.

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It's the way to go. I did the same thing back in Sept/Oct. I went from a 1 bed at MMO to a one bedroom at KBC, then a two bedroom at Waiohai. I could have also traded into a 2 bedroom at Kauai Lagoons, but decided that the Poipu location worked best for us. It took a lot of searching though.

I do think the ability to retrade online has increased competition for good weeks in instant exchange. EPlus and DC increases that since a retrade doesn't have any additional cost.

Though how many people buy EPlus? What percentage of trades carry EPlus. I don't think we know the answer, but is it 10% of exchanges. Does it show up as a default option when you are pulling off the exchange like the travel insurance does? A lot of people probably don't buy it thinking that they won't need it. Then when they do they either bite the bullet and pay a full exchange fee or just cancel.

Also, how many people that buy it actually take the time to search day in and day out multiple times a day for a retrade. It seems that only Tuggers are this dedicated.

lmkucala said:

Do you really think narrowing your search changed your results? or was it clicking the search button every few minutes (regardless of what area/resorts you searched for)?

Also - could be coincidence but I've noticed that clicking refresh does not always truely do a refresh, but instead it seems I need to redo the entire search to get different results.

Click to expand...

Beefnot said:

I highly doubt that changing the technique itself changed my results. It just made for a more focused and faster way to search for my singular goal. Before, I would search all locations and then periodically either hit F5, or click a random location and then re-do the all locations search. Simply searching for one resort and hitting the search button every couple minutes was much quicker.

Click to expand...

I haven't had any issues using refresh to refresh the results. It seems to refresh the availability. In fact I have used a Google Chrome extension called Auto RefreshPlus to do the refreshing automatically. You can set it to refresh the screen automatically in just about any interval from 5 seconds to 15 minutes.

I did notice a lot of last minute inventory which I think is crazy. Who can fly last minute to Oahu?

Not a fan of e-Plus as a general rule because it creates a lot of instability and only profits II in the long run. Very disruptive to the exchange system, IMO.

SkyBlueWaters said:

I did notice a lot of last minute inventory which I think is crazy. Who can fly last minute to Oahu?

Not a fan of e-Plus as a general rule because it creates a lot of instability and only profits II in the long run. Very disruptive to the exchange system, IMO.

Click to expand...

Personally (no actual proof) I suspect that the real change is in the timing that Starwood and Marriott make their late deposits to II. It seems to be much later than in the past. Last minute inventory is probably used to upgrade a smaller or less desirable unit.

I also like the flexibility that eplus provides. $49 is a small price to pay to not be locked into a specific trip - because things come up. Most of my trips are booked either 18 - 24 months out, or within 90 days. Obviously within 90 days I am feeling pretty confident in making the trip, but at two years out? Lots can change.

EPlus is a bargain at only $49. They could double the price and it would still be a bargain. Don't be getting any ideas II...

^^^ tsk, tsk.

dioxide45 said:

EPlus is a bargain at only $49. They could double the price and it would still be a bargain. Don't be getting any ideas II...

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I don't know about double. They could create a tiered pricing structure, something like $49 for 1 retrade, $59 for 2 retrades, and $69 for 3 retrades.

Oh my! Please stop giving them bright ideas of squeezing more out of us.

I was surprised when they raised the price of GC to $59 that they didn't raise eplus to the same. I definitely expect it to go up but hopefully not more than $10. I like adding it to a M to M or S to S because even with eplus the exchange fee is around the same as a single exchange fee in RCI. I really don't have any desire to deposit any non M or S into II. Marriott and Starwood staying in system gets a boost and a reduced exchange fee. I can't say that for other resorts.

I love retrading and hope to get the correct date for our son and fiance in April at the Westin Maui. They have two weeks with a gap between. I got both weeks with ongoing searches and added the retrade fee right away. If they have to get a night in a hotel, no big deal.

The one time I don't buy the eplus option, Hilton Head for our April trip, it turns out we have to change it because we need to babysit for our granddaughter while our daughter-in-law goes to a business conference for 4 nights. Our granddaughter will only be 7 months old.

Bring the baby to HHI for the whole week. It will be so much warmer than CO.

tschwa2 said:

Bring the baby to HHI for the whole week. It will be so much warmer than CO.

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Ha! That was my suggestion. Our daughter-in-law's conference is in Charleston, less than two hours away. I told her we could bring the baby to her a few times. But Daddy will be home with baby in the evenings, and they decided she needed that stability, with mommy so far away.

Besides, they are very worried about taking the little baby on an airplane. When the kids fly, they tend to notice the crying babies and don't want to put her through that pain. Me--I wear sound blocking headphones and listen to music. I don't hear all of those babies crying.

dioxide45 said:

I haven't had any issues using refresh to refresh the results. It seems to refresh the availability. In fact I have used a Google Chrome extension called Auto RefreshPlus to do the refreshing automatically. You can set it to refresh the screen automatically in just about any interval from 5 seconds to 15 minutes.

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Hmmm - I tried this (I even installed the Chrome extension and btw that is pretty cool). Just a refresh still does not work for me to refresh results. I tried this many times yesterday and this morning, leaving the refresh on for quite some time with no change in results at all. Then, every time I stopped the refresh and redid my search manually the results changed. It did it too many times for it to be a total coincidence I think. I wish it did work this way for me!

My sister owns a low trader so I was helping her get a week in Orlando. I tried to use Refresh. I used it on my phone and manually clicked my Ipad at the same time to see what would happen. Manually clicking picked up the week and resort she wanted two different times. The phone with Refresh never did. So I experimented with five different scenarios. Manually clicking picks up weeks Refresh does not.This also happens to my sister. So I only manually click for her now.It was fun when I thought Refresh was going to make her life easier!!!

MabelP said:

My sister owns a low trader so I was helping her get a week in Orlando. I tried to use Refresh. I used it on my phone and manually clicked my Ipad at the same time to see what would happen. Manually clicking picked up the week and resort she wanted two different times. The phone with Refresh never did. So I experimented with five different scenarios. Manually clicking picks up weeks Refresh does not.This also happens to my sister. So I only manually click for her now.It was fun when I thought Refresh was going to make her life easier!!!

Click to expand...

Glad to hear it's not just me. Now I feel better than I'm not missing out on some easy trick! Agree it would be really nice though if it worked!

I wonder if something has changed with the website. It has been a a couple years since I last used Auto Refresh Plus, so it may work differently now. It worked very well for me back in 2013 for some searches I was doing. You may want to look in to iMacro, another Google extension. It will allow you to record a macro, like clicking on a web form item like the Search button, to refresh the results.

Beefnot said:

Yesterday morning, I changed up my technique slightly and, instead of searching all destinations, narrowed my search to "mko,mk1", clicking the search button every few minutes. I didn't really like this approach because I like seeing search results, even if they are not the ones I want. But after one of these narrower searches, a 1BR just popped up and I immediately clicked through and did a retrade.

I was feeling lucky, and did the same thing this morning, not expecting any matches of course. After several refreshes over a 15 minute period or so, a 2BR unit fell from the heavens and onto my computer screen. I retraded up once again! In less than 18 hours I went from a studio to a 2BR at MKO!

Click to expand...

Beefnot- I see you are on the West Coast. May I ask what time in the morning you performed your searches? I am still trying to figure out when they load inventory. lol

Lingber said:

Beefnot- I see you are on the West Coast. May I ask what time in the morning you performed your searches? I am still trying to figure out when they load inventory. lol

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There isn't one set time. It can happen anytime, day or nite. 24/7.

Ron98GT said:

There isn't one set time. It can happen anytime, day or nite. 24/7.

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This is the truth. I found my upgrade to Waiohai at about noon, pacific time. Eplus is great, but you will spend a lot of time searching. You have to enjoy the process.