How To Upgrade Your Timeshare Exchange Through Interval International

If you’re an owner of a deeded week, you know when you stay at your home resort you can only book the same size unit that you own. What you may not know is that when you use Interval International to exchange, you can often get a unit that is larger than what you have deposited. Perhaps you have more people traveling than the unit size you own can accommodate. Or maybe you just want some extra space to spread out. Even just having a second bathroom is a huge plus.

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How Can You Deposit a Studio Unit & Get a Two Bedroom in Exchange?

The answer: Interval International gets more deposits than they give out in confirmed exchanges. That often means you can choose to pay an upgrade fee to get a larger unit than what you own.

What is an Upgrade Fee & When Did it Start?

When you search for available exchanges in Interval International, you may often see a larger unit than you are searching with. If the date of checkin is more than 59 days from the current date, you will also notice a fee associated with the exchange.

Image: Shows cost of upgrade from a studio into a one or two bedroom unit for Platinum II Membership (learn more about discounted upgrade fees later in the article)

Prior to June 2016, confirming trades into larger units through Interval International had no additional fees. On or around June 26th, 2016 Interval International instituted a new upgrade fee policy. This upset many owners but also made for the possibility that it would make larger units more readily available, as Interval International members might think twice before paying a fee to upgrade. Previously, many members would just confirm to the largest unit they could, leaving behind a lot of smaller units.

What About Trade Power Limitations?

You might be thinking trading from a smaller unit to a larger one isn’t possible. That isn’t true. Exchanges are based on a trade power algorithm that is proprietary to Interval International. However, these often allow trading up in unit size. Basically, if you can see an exchange into a larger unit, you can pay the upgrade fee and confirm it.

How Much Are Upgrade Fees with Interval International?

For basis Interval International membership the upgrade fee is $99 per step up in unit size. So a studio to a one bedroom would be $99. A studio to a two bedroom would be $198. A one bedroom to a two bedroom or three bedroom? It would be $99, or $198, respectively. Potentially you could upgrade all the way from a studio to a four bedroom for $396.

Studio
- to One Bedroom – $99 (One step up)
- to Two Bedroom – $198 (Two steps up)
- to Three Bedroom – $297 (Three steps up)
- to Four Bedroom – $396 (Four steps up)
One Bedroom
- to Two Bedroom – $99 (One Step Up)
- to Three Bedroom – $198 (Two steps up)
- to Four Bedroom – $297 (Three steps up)

Two Bedroom
- to Three Bedroom – $99 (One Step Up)
- to Four Bedroom – $198 (Two steps up)
Three Bedroom
- to Four Bedroom – $99 (One Step Up)

How To Save on Upgrade Fees with Gold or Platinum Membership

As a benefit of Interval International Gold and Platinum membership, you can get discounts on the upgrade fees;

Interval International Gold Members receive a $20 discount per step up. So instead of $99, it is only $79
Interval International Platinum Members receive a $40 discount per step up. Instead of $99, it is only $59
Interval International has also offered free upgrade promotions for a limited time.

Image: Recent promotional material for free upgrade offer.

Can You Upgrade Your Exchange When Setting Up an On-going Search?

Absolutely, when you initiate a pending request to search for an exchange, you are offered the ability to limit the size of the confirmed unit to one larger than the unit you are using to search with. Keep in mind, this may also limit your ability to successfully confirm an exchange.

Image: Unit size selection slider when placing a Pending Request.

What If I Own Points? Can I Still Pay a Fee to Upgrade?

Unfortunately, if you own in one of the many timeshare point systems that are affiliated with Interval International, you can’t pay a fee to upgrade to a larger unit. Your point system will have a chart that shows you the number of points to confirm each unit size. Generally, the larger the unit, the more points it will cost. Upgrade fees only apply to weeks based exchanges.

What If You Downgrade to a Smaller Unit Than You Have Deposited?

Well, unlike paying a fee to upgrade, Interval International doesn’t pay you when you take a smaller unit. This can seem rather unjust, but that is the policy. So, unfortunately you don’t benefit from downgrading in unit sizes. We’ve always confirmed the largest size unit we can with an exchange, even if it requires a fee. This affords us either more room, or the ability to invite family or friends along on the trip.

How To Avoid Upgrade Fees

When confirming an exchange or re-trade inside the Interval International Flexchange program, there is no upgrade fee. Flexchange is any exchange or re-trade with a check-in day 59 days or less from the current date. If you are flexible, and can confirm trades inside the Flexchange window, you can avoid paying the unit size upgrade fees entirely.

Wrapping Up

Interval International is a powerful resource as part of your timeshare ownership. It is where you may find the most value in timeshare ownership. The ability to upgrade unit sizes is one benefit we think is unmatched anywhere.