Diamond resorts trading power in II

Here's the quote from Bill4728 on the "Does anyone have anything good to say about DRI?" thread.

Some of the DRI resales allow Interval International (II) trading ( some like the US collection do not) We found that the II trades we got with the DRI points were of great value.
__________________
Bill
All my posts should be considered my personal opinion or experience unless otherwise noted.

From DRI website FAQ:

Can I use my points to book an exchange through Interval International
Yes, of course!*
Thanks to our unique association with Interval International®, you can use your points with THE Club® to make reservations at any one of the worldwide resorts affiliated with them. Reservations made within 30 days of travel are available at 50% the published points value of the accommodation.

*The only exception is for members who purchased resale points for the California, Hawaii, and US Collections, as they are not eligible to use their resale points for exchange with Interval International.

You can use your current year’s points allocation as well as points saved from last year to make an Interval International exchange to travel in either the current or subsequent year.
If you wish to use any unsaved points (current years or points saved from the previous year) to holiday at an Interval member resort, you must make the exchange before 31 October of the current year.

You can request an Interval International exchange up to 24 months before your chosen travel date.

youppi said:

*The only exception is for members who purchased resale points for the California, Hawaii, and US Collections, as they are not eligible to use their resale points for exchange with Interval International.

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I spend too much time working with attorneys, so I've learned to parse words carefully.

That excerpt says that you may not use your resale points for exchange for exchange with II. It does not say that you cannot deposit a reservation that you have made with II (or any other exchange company, for that matter).

This seems like a good question to ask at the DRI Member Forum.

From the global memberships guide about rental, it may be possible.
13. WHAT ARE THE PROCEDURES
FOR RENTALS?
13.1 RULES PROHIBITING MEMBERS FROM MAKING
RENTAL RESERVATIONS
Subject to the following paragraph, members are not allowed to make a reservation in their name and pass it on to a third party, or exchange it with anyone other than our appointed exchange company, Interval International® (II). Reservations found to be made available to third parties will be canceled, and the points used will then be forfeited. This could also result in a suspension of membership.
Members are allowed to rent their reservation periodically to other members, family and friends for their personal use. Members are not allowed to rent reservations for commercial gain or rent to individuals not known to them. Similarly an II exchange reservation cannot be rented for commercial gain. If this is found to be the case, their membership could be suspended.

youppi said:

By the way, this thread should be moved to the DRI section. Where are you admin ?

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youppi said:

My comment about the admin was not for you but for the real admin. Normally, the admin should read all posts and move or delete them if inappropriate.

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The TUG moderators don't have the time to read every post. If you want a thread moved to a different forum, you can contact one of them. I would normally suggest clicking the little red triangle, but that seems to be frowned upon for simple moves of a thread. I stopped bothering to ask for threads to be moved.

As you can see, there are lots of threads all over the place these days. Travel Info threads in the TUG Lounge instead of in Travel Info. Same with renting or buying related threads. I used to use the red triangle to have threads moved, but I just leave them now and move on.

youppi said:

From the global memberships guide about rental, it may be possible.
13. WHAT ARE THE PROCEDURES
FOR RENTALS?
13.1 RULES PROHIBITING MEMBERS FROM MAKING
RENTAL RESERVATIONS
Subject to the following paragraph, members are not allowed to make a reservation in their name and pass it on to a third party, or exchange it with anyone other than our appointed exchange company, Interval International® (II). Reservations found to be made available to third parties will be canceled, and the points used will then be forfeited. This could also result in a suspension of membership.
Members are allowed to rent their reservation periodically to other members, family and friends for their personal use. Members are not allowed to rent reservations for commercial gain or rent to individuals not known to them. Similarly an II exchange reservation cannot be rented for commercial gain. If this is found to be the case, their membership could be suspended.

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It's very clear that ownerships that are part of the Club can only be used through the Club. Club members either make a club reservation with their points, or they use their points to exchange in II via the Club Membership.

That paragraph is from the Club rules and does not apply to ownerships that are not part of the Club.

clifffaith said:

Although somewhere on TUG earlier today I read that resale points in the US Collection can't be used to book II. Both Cliff and I thought that didn't seem right -- can someone confirm?

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I called the platinum hot line with Diamond and this is what I was told. When buyings point on the after market it is very likely that those points can only be used in the home collection. There is a small chance that they could be used to exchange through II but that would depend the specifics of the contract with DRI. If a resale purchaser becomes part of DRI's The Club then they could exchange via II or book anywhere in DRI system. I asked whether there was a set deal to become a The Club member and she said that there is not. This transaction is done on a case by case basis. Hope this helps.

T_R_Oglodyte said:

That's very interesting. Thanks for passing on your experience.

I got my information from talking on the phone with a high level DRI reservations person (a couple of levels above the people who answer the phone when you call in to the reservations center), when I was having trouble booking using my deeded week assigned to the club. I was trying to figure out how everything, worked and I'm passing on my recollection of what she told me.

Your narrative suggests that my memory might be faulty. When I get a chance I will peruse the usage rules - which is probably what I should have done in the first place.

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It may not be a faulty memory. ;-) I think this rule may have changed at some point over the last few years. In August 2013 I asked in the DRI member forum whether saved points have the 13 month booking priority. They said no. Last night I asked the same question in the DRI facebook page and they said saved points do get the 13 month advantage.

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DRI Member Forum (08.20.2013)
Q: Does the 13 month rule for booking a reservation in a home collection apply to saved points and borrowed points? For example, if I have 4000 annual points and borrow the up coming years' points, can I make a reservation that requires up to 8000 points 13 months before the travel date? Similarly, if my account has 4000 saved point plus 4000 annual points, can I make a 8000 points reservation 13 months out.

A: The 13 month Home Club Advantage rule only applies towards allocated points from your original purchased contract, and does not include saved points or points allocated through other means (ie. Club Select deposited points, Diamond Dream Holidays, etc...). In your case above, you may use 4,000 points during the Home Club Advantage period (13-10 months prior to arrival), and 8,000 points during the standard booking reservation period (10 months and sooner).

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DRI Facebook Page April 1, 2016

Q: Does the 13 month Home Collection Priority apply to saved points? For example, if my account has 4000 saved point plus 4000 annual points, can I make a 8000 points reservation 13 months out? I understand that the resort must be in my home collection.

A: ... Yes you can use saved points to book. However, it would depend when you are trying to book.
So just an example to show you, if you were trying to book for May 2017, you would need the points to be in 2017, so you could potentially use your 2017 allocation plus any 2016 points you have saved in to 2017.

T_R_Oglodyte said:

I spend too much time working with attorneys, so I've learned to parse words carefully.

That excerpt says that you may not use your resale points for exchange for exchange with II. It does not say that you cannot deposit a reservation that you have made with II (or any other exchange company, for that matter).

This seems like a good question to ask at the DRI Member Forum.

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I asked this question on the Diamond Facebook page. But, I have no idea what to make of their response. Here it is in its entirety. ...

Question:
If I acquire resale points in the US Collection and open an II individual account, can I reserve a week and deposit it in II for an exchange? I am not using the points to make the II reservation, instead I would be depositing a confirmed reservation. The reservation would be for seven days and it would begin on a standard check-in day.

Diamond Resorts International:
Hi Dan, regardless of the points being resale points or not, you would not be able to book accommodation using your Diamond Resorts points and deposit a week with Interval International as you would need to have a specifc week ownership to be able to link this with your II membership. If you need any further information please do not hesitate to contact us. Thank you

Dan Zale:
Thank you for this reply. I'm afraid it's a bit confusing. I know owners in other points systems are able to deposit confirmed reservations into II -- Marriott Destination point owners, Club Intrawest owners, and Welk Resorts point owners do this. I am an owner of Welk Platinum points and I've exchanged reservations made with my points. So, this is not a problem on Interval's side. Are you saying, then, that DRI prohibits such exchanges?

Diamond Resorts International:
The exchange process for US Collection Regional (resale) is the same as for full memberships with the exception of the member being responsible for enrolling themselves with II i.e. providing they have a valid individual membership with II, which you must then contact the call centre to make the exchange reservation using points. There is no option for weekly deposits with a points based membership. We hope you may find this information helpful

Dan Zale:
I don't wish to be a problem, but this information is not helpful. The DRI Knowledgebase/FAQ clearly states: "For California, Hawaii, and US Collection resale points-resale points cannot be used for exchange reservations with Interval International." Resale point owners in the Facebook groups confirm this rule is enforced.

Diamond Resorts International:
With a resale contract, the member will be responsible for enrolling themselves with II and will be provided with a valid individual membership with II that will not be associated with the account with us.

From all recent reports -in the last 5 years or so, I believe the FAQ knowledge base is correct and the response from DRI is incorrect. If you already have the resale points you can see if you can set up your own membership and then cancel and refund if you cannot. If your decision to obtain resale US collection points is based on your ability to exchange through II than I think it would be a gamble and you would have to decide if it is one you are willing to take.

have definately been mixed reports of DRI resale points and the ability to exchange within II for sure.

ive literally heard one person say it works just fine (although with a separate account)...and ive heard others report that DRI simply wont allow the deposit at all.

its all very bizarre for sure.

Diamond's Member Services just confirmed for me that we can make II exchanges with resale points.

Diamond Resorts International wrote: "Members who purchased resale points for the California, Hawaii, and US Collections are not automatically enrolled to THE Club and so are not eligible to use their resale points for exchange with Interval International. In this case Interval International membership needs to be purchased separately. Once the membership has been purchased, an Interval International account will be created by Interval International. For the resale points owners the procedure they follow will be same as for non-resale member, i.e. they will be able to use their points directly with Interval. To learn more please visit www.intervalworld.com"

https://www.facebook.com/DiamondRes...tif_t=share_comment&notif_id=1470922412039046

Please report back when you have your II account set up with resale points and if it was an easy set up or took several back and forth calls between DRI and II to set it up.