Using TripAdvisor to your Advantage

TripAdvisor is written by travelers FOR travelers. And Trip Advisor is a great resource for researching your next timeshare exchange request.  Here are some tips for using Trip Advisor...

Reading Reviews

Look for trends when looking through the reviews for a resort.  If there is a single complaint about a strange smell, you should be much less concerned than if you see several different complaints. Trip Advisor can be very overwhelming, if you let it.  It is necessary to learn how to navigate all the reviews.  Realize there will be negative review for every property...even the best property. Look for a consistent theme.

Be aware of the date of the reviews. Both the season and the age of the review can change its impact.  For example, the ocean can be different at different times of the year (seaweed, wind/waves, etc.). Also, older reviews may have been remedied...especially if a property has undergone a renovation or upgrade.

Consider reviews by people similar to you. For example, a family with children may have a different experience than a couple traveling without kids.

Also consider setting a time limit when reading reviews.  For example, allow yourself 10 minutes to scroll through and read random reviews on one property, and avoid the temptation to read every review. 

Look at the Photos

Make sure you look at the photos other travelers have taken. They can be very revealing about a property, especially the ones that were recently taken. The photos used by resorts for marketing purposes are staged and could be taken a long time ago.

Post a Question

If you have a concern, you can ask a reviewer a question (sometimes, if they have allowed this in their profile).  You can also post a question to the general public within Trip Advisor.  I recently did this before going to the Marriott on St. Kitts, and received lots of helpful feedback, ranging from activities for teens to grocery store and restaurant tips.

More tips...

There is a City Guides App you can use on your mobile phone. And when you are researching you can click the "save" button and check your "Saved Trips" later. 

Check out other review sites

Trip Advisor is a great place to hear recent reviews, but there are other sites for research: Fodors, Frommers, Zagat and Lonely Planet.

Good luck in your research!

My Crystal Shores Failed Exchange Request

For 2 years I tried to trade my Orlando week for a week at Crystal Shores on Marco Island Florida.  I made the mistake of only requesting one property (Crystal Shores).

I never received a confirmation, and ended up having to eventually stay at the Marriott Beach Resort on Marco Island instead.  Now this wasn't necessarily a bad thing, because the Marriott Resort was beautiful and we were very happy with our stay.  However, we really wanted to use our week and stay at a timeshare property, and could not. 

I think part of this was because I only requested one property.  However, I have heard many things about why Crystal Shores is so hard to exchange into. These are the two biggest reasons, I believe:

1. Some of the people who own at Crystal Shores only want to stay at their home resort, and thus do not a need to belong to Interval International. Therefore, their weeks don't often get added to Interval International inventory.

2. The introduction of the Destinations points program through Marriott Vacation Club has taken away much of the Crystal Shores inventory.  Basically people in the Destinations program are not depositing their Crystal Shores week with Interval International, but instead using their week for points in the Destinations program.

So, in summary, it is not a good idea to try to exchange your week for just one resort.  Being flexible and open minded will help your success rate. 

Backup Plans

Another strategy if you really want to go someplace in particular, and nowhere else, is to have a backup plan.  For example... reserve a hotel near the timeshare resort you have requested.  If you get a confirmation on the timeshare resort, cancel the hotel reservation.  Even better, use rewards points for the hotel.  I have done this two Spring Breaks (Easter Breaks) in a row. This is high season, mind you.

I have a Marriott credit card, and have points that I have been able to use as part of my back up plan.  The first year I was unsuccessful getting into Crystal Shores, I used points to stay on the beach for a whole week.  The second year I used points to stay at the Marriott Resort on Marco Island for 5 nights.  I still had my week that I had deposited with Interval International to use at a different time.

The back up plan of using points and reserving (or even not using points) works because there is no penalty to cancel.  Please be careful here and read the cancellation policy before you reserve. Some resorts/hotels require a deposit up front, and there are rules on when you must cancel to receive a refund on their deposit. There are also certain times of the year that a hotel will require an up front deposit (for example: Christmas week).