# Have I made a huge mistake?



## parthiban (Aug 21, 2008)

I've recently bought into the Marriott Vacation Club by buying timeshare at Marriott's Club Son Antem in Mallorca and for the first time done everything the wrong way round. Instead of researching first, I've only started reading up after getting back and I'm really worried I've made a big mistake  

When I was out there last weekend, they gave a great spiel about how the whole system works and from the way I understand it, it does still make sense financially, but I'm starting to wonder whether everything was as clear cut as it was explained by the sales guy.

We paid £41,000 for 3 gold weeks (supposedly the best ones for trading as it's a golf resort), and as part of the deal they threw in platinum Marriott membership (which I think is just a free upgrade at their hotels and breafast) as well as 735,000 reward points.

The way it seemed was that given that we spend a lot each year on hotel bills, as long as the system is as flexible as they said, we should save a lot of money in the long run.

My questions are as follows:

1. How early do you need to book things in order to actually get what you want? This is both for exchanges to other resorts, or to trade in for points and then booking using them.

2. Can you actually do as much with it as they made out? Each week is worth 100,000 points giving us 300,000. Can you actually buy something substantial with it? The 735,000 points they gave us was said to be a week in Egypt for 6 with business class flights. In the UK, a holiday like that would probably cost you around £10,000 - is that representative of other holiday packages?


I'd really appreciate any help at this stage, I'm still within the 14 day cool off period so want to make absolutely sure before I go ahead with this.


----------



## thinze3 (Aug 21, 2008)

*Congratulations!!*

You can and should book your resort at 13 months prior to your desired check-in date. You will have to call Marriott Vacation Club to do this. You can book all three weeks at that time (there are qualifications to book at 13 months). If booking only one week, you must wait and call at 12 months prior.

For best trading ability, deposit your weeks and place a request imediately with II for your desired locations. You will most likely have excellent trading power with your new timeshares.

You can purchase Marriott travel packages which include both air miles and hotel stay certificates with your points. The ultimate package costs 270K points and gets you a week stay at Marriott's top notch hotels and 120K FF miles. Most likely you CAN book that trip to Egypt as the salesman stated. Getting Business class seats nowadays, however, is not all that easy to do. It will take a bit of learning here on Tug first, and there are a few experts here that can help you.

Again, congrats on your fine purchase.


Terry


----------



## Karen G (Aug 21, 2008)

parthiban said:


> I'm still within the 14 day cool off period so want to make absolutely sure before I go ahead with this.



The fact that you are having doubts about this purchase and don't really understand all the details of what you have bought, rescind while you still have the chance.  Take some time to thoroughly research the program.

Then, after you have all the knowledge needed to make an informed purchase, if you think it's still the great deal the salesman made it out to be, buy it.

You have only this one chance to rescind, but you'll have numerous opportunities to buy later.


----------



## cp73 (Aug 21, 2008)

I agree with Karen G. Rescind and take your time. This isn't a once in a lifetime opportunity. You can always go back and buy from them. Also check out the resale market. On Redweek I see weeks from $12,000-$20,000. Your price equates to about $77,000 US. On resale market you should be able to buy at 60% or less of that.


----------



## Bill4728 (Aug 21, 2008)

TUG's top 10 questions/answers said:
			
		

> Q. I just bought a TS from {blank} did I get a good deal?
> 
> A:
> You likely paid two to five times more than you should have if you had bought the exact same TS resale from a current owner. Check your paperwork and see if you can still rescind ( cancel ) your purchase. (Normally if it is within 5-10 days of the date you purchased, you can rescind.) If your within that time period. RESCIND!! Then find out if you did the right thing or if you could have done better buying resale from a current owner. If you find out that for you buying from the developer was the right thing, you should have no problem getting the same deal (or better). But if you don't rescind now, and find out that you should have bought resale from a current owner, it may be too late to rescind. So Rescind now, get educated about buying from the developer and buying resale, then make an educated choice about what is best for you and your family.
> ...



If you can rescind , do so. If you can't rescind, you have bought one of the nicest TS there are ( even if you paid too much) but there have been several discussions which say that buying Marriott from the developer can sometimes make sense. So don't beat yourself up over it.

Good Luck

PS 

IMHO, buying from the developer isn't the biggest mistake that people make in timesharing. The biggest mistake is paying good money for a TS and paying the yearly maintenance fees then not using the TS. It truely shocks me, how many posts there are on this board from people who paid big bucks (and the yearly Mfs) for a TS then say they want to sell because they never use their TS.

My best advise is to: _ find out how best to use the TS you just bought and get your money's worth out of this purchase._


----------



## AwayWeGo (Aug 21, 2008)

*You Can Say That Again.*




Bill4728 said:


> IIt truely shocks me, how many posts there are on this board from people who paid big bucks (and the yearly Mfs) for a TS then say they want to sell because they never use their TS.


Or, as some few of us prefer to express it, _Big Bux_. 

And in the case of _parthiban_, _Big Pounds_. 

Or, as Our British Cousins possibly refer to it, a _Round Mound Of Pounds_. 

-- Alan Cole, McLean (Fairfax County), Virginia, USA.​


----------



## iamnotshopgirl (Aug 21, 2008)

The original poster may want to take a  look at this link from Ebay which is an active listing.

http://cgi.ebay.com/Timeshare-Marri...NameZWD2VQQcmdZViewItemQQ_trksidZp1638Q2em122


bob


----------



## parthiban (Aug 21, 2008)

*Thanks!*

Thanks for those replies, I really appreciate the honest advice.

This might sound a little crazy, but I'm not worried about the developer vs. resale argument as the transfer to points system is one of the aspects that really interested me - I plan to travel to lots of different location where hotels are most likely going to be our best option so it's important this stays in.

My concern is mainly around getting my money's worth. For those that actually own them, is it hard to exchange weeks with other resorts, or book using points if you don't book things 12 months in advance?

Say I wanted to take a trip that was 2 months away, could I do it?


----------



## LAX Mom (Aug 21, 2008)

Points can be very tricky to use, especially to hotels in Europe. At 2 months out you'll find many not available for points. 

The best use of points is the travel packages- airline miles & a 7 night stay in a Marriott hotel. You can use any airline, but the hotel can only be a 7 night stay in the same Marriott. You can't break it up into 3 nights Paris/ 4 nights Rome. The hotel must have "standard award" availablity. If it's only available on "stay anytime" the package certificate won't work. 

In my opinion, it's not worth buying from Marriott just for the points.


----------



## Smooth Air (Aug 21, 2008)

You have to ask yourself: Is it really worth it to pay all that money for the points? Or, to look @ it another way: What you save on the resale market, you can use to stay @ any Marriott or fly w/ any airline...anywhere.

Smooth Air


----------



## englishowner (Aug 21, 2008)

Parthiban

hi, welcome to Tug and to Marriott ownership. As you can see I also own at Son Antem, but my week is only a Silver Week. I've owned since 2002 and bought direct from Marriott, then in 2004 I bought a 2nd week, again direct from Marriott, this time at Playa Andaluza. Just after buying my 2nd week, I found Tug, have learned so much and got so much out of my ownership, mainly due to what I've picked up on here. 


The sales rep is right, you will be able to get hotel stays with those points but you will have to be well organised and plan in advance. I have never yet tried to use a travel package but plenty of people on here have successfully, once again though, advanced planning is necessary. 

Club Son Antem is a real gem of a resort, it is not so well known as the other Spanish resorts, but it is on a Golf course, and has a full service hotel on site, the townhouses are some of the best timeshare rooms we have stayed in, it is also very popular as a trade especially for Europeans. Just as an example, my silver week has got me trades into the Four Seasons in Scottsdale, and to the Manor Club, Williamsburg Platinum Season, the Surf Club, Aruba Gold Season. I have also received a bonus week (AC) for depositing with Interval, so you have bought an excellent product.

I guess what you have to do is decide how much those points are valuable to you, you could perhaps buy those 3 weeks for half the price, but you will never be able to trade for points, and sometime in the future you may not need a two bedroom timeshare. Also you need to take into account the lack of Marriott timeshares in Europe. Once you get used to the standard you get in a Marriott, many of the other ones in Europe just are not of the same standard, and you may be disappointed, however you may  be able to trade for points then stay in a Marriott hotel in Nice, or Italy for example.

I think if you are undecided then pehaps you should rescind, after all that's a lot of money, or perhaps just buy one week for now, see how it works out, then add to your portfolio later. 

PM me if I can help any more, sorry if this is a bit of a long answer!

Lynne


----------



## cwtkm3 (Aug 21, 2008)

I've just returned from a 2 week stay at Club son Antem too!

Before you rescind you really need to spend the next few days reading and researching your purchase.

First of all you got a great deal. We went on a preview and were told the price of one gold week is £17,100. We could have bought two gold weeks for a special offer price of £29,070 which is a 15% discount and would have brought the cost of each week down to £14,535. Multiply that by the three weeks you bought and you get £43,605 so you got even more discount.

Plus you got a ton of points and platinum Marriott membership which will allow you access to the executive lounges in the hotels and save you a lot of money long term on food and drink if used effectively.

Son Antem is a fabulous resort. We've stayed there 3 times now. First time was summer as a preview. Then Easter (platinum season) as an exchange. This year we got 2 August highest demand weeks 31 and 32 as an exchange.

However, whilst there, I was really surprised to discover that everyone I spoke to was an owner using their season. Lots of Brits I spoke to never exchange their weeks and don't understand how to work the system. But the good news was that a few of the people are now tiring of the resort year on year and thinking about exchanging which'll free up weeks in the future (talking those hard to get platinum weeks.)


Gold weeks are high demand but not so high as platinum or gold holiday but you will have success with exchanging provided you give Interval strong weeks and place your request a year in advance. However I can honestly say my platinum week in Hilton Head trades better than my Spanish gold hol and gold weeks and yields more Marriott points. Plus the maintenance fees are a lot cheaper at the moment.

100,000 marriott points aren't good value as you'll be paying over £620 in maintenance fees plus an additional charge of ? £60 (can't remember the exact figure but we pay more than the Americans.) to change the weeks for points and giving up you right to use your week for that year. You can buy 50,000 points direct from Marriott annually for $625 and your spouse can do the same. For interest my sales lady told me they were going to stop allowing people to do this!!

Remember, there are only 4 European resorts and they're not so easy to find on the re-sale market. Have a look at the travel and leisure group (they sell them on e-bay.) or redweek.com, myresortnetwork.com, aberfoyle holidays. Decide how important reward points are to you and if you will utilise travel packages for business class travel to quality hotels.

You could rescind - Marriott will still be selling these gold weeks for a long time yet and once sold will be starting on the resales.

Just remember Marriott may exercise its right of first refusal so you end up with nothing. But you may be interested to hear I met a chap on holiday who'd bought his platinum week direct and then seen a gold holiday week advertised in his local paper last year. He bought it for £8,000 and was delighted that Marriott didn't exercise its ROFR. Remember - with gold hol you can book gold hol or gold weeks.

I really hope that helps - there's so much to absorb and it's really confusing at first but yoiu're lucky to have found this site. But remember - don't mention it to your sales person. Those that know about TUG don't seem to like it much!

Good luck with your decision.


----------



## thinze3 (Aug 21, 2008)

Very well stated Lynne.  

To the OP - Only you can decide.
You will be happy either way if you stay with Tug.

Terry


----------



## Latravel (Aug 21, 2008)

_I'm not worried about the developer vs. resale argument as the transfer to points system is one of the aspects that really interested me - I plan to travel to lots of different location where hotels are most likely going to be our best option so it's important this stays in._

Congratulations on your purchase!  You clearly have researched the direct vs. resale issue and came up with the decision to purchase direct.  The 735,000 points you received from the purchase can buy you some amazing vacations and more than make up for the price difference.  Some of the best hotels in Egypt are Marriotts.

My husband and I very effectively use our points and we almost always fly first/business class because of the number of points we have.  If you learn the point system inside and out, it's very rewarding.  We very rarely plan long term so we've been getting first class airfare even 2 months out.  We would never pay for first class tickets so the points allow us to travel in style!


----------



## Steamboat Bill (Aug 21, 2008)

To answer your question - no you have not made a HUGE mistake.

Sure, you could have bought resale for less, but you would not have had as smooth as a process as buying direct. Also, your MRPs are large and there is about $7k or more value with them depending on how you use them.


----------



## taffy19 (Aug 21, 2008)

Bill4728 said:


> If you can rescind , do so. If you can't rescind, you have bought one of the nicest TS there are ( even if you paid too much) but there have been several discussions which say that buying Marriott from the developer can sometimes make sense. So don't beat yourself up over it.
> 
> Good Luck
> 
> ...


Bill is so right to make the best of your purchase it if is too late to rescind and enjoy your timeshare.   

Next time, buy a re-sale if you want to have more weeks and your average cost will go down.  I hope you still can rescind as buying is easy but selling is not and is getting harder but that may change again.  You'll find a lot of information here how to use the system to your highest advantage and best use.


----------



## Steve A (Aug 21, 2008)

When your timeshare ownership shows up on Interval International I think that you can reassure your self by seeing what your weeks will get you. I bet you'll be very happy.


----------



## JOHNNY99 (Aug 21, 2008)

Parthiban,

Congratulations on finding "TUG".

I am a very happy Marriott owner (five years) who has bought both direct and resale. I live in Newcastle-upon-tyne. 

I do not own at Son antem but exchange in every year. Have stayed in April / May / August and October- always fabulous.

In my humble opinion-

By your gold weeks resale for £6000 each. I have personally used two British based resale agents that have recognised status with Marriott. They were both recommended to me by the sales team at Son antem when I wanted to sell my first Marriott purchase, (at Cypress Harbour, Orlando.)

Alternatively, purchase, as I have done at Marriott Phuket beach club,resale gold week purchased for £3200 and used exclusively for exchanging to Son antem.Phuket also has a lower maintenance fee at £350 per year. 

I am also a fan of points (exchange for travel packages and use for BA miles-love those club world seats to USA and Far east).My purchase from Marriott was a platinum phuket beach club for £10700 April 2005. 

Appreciate you have received 700k+ points but are they worth £25k? -your call.
CHEERS


----------



## KathyPet (Aug 21, 2008)

We have made wonderful use of our points over the years. However I will say that I do tend to plan well in advance and try to leave nothing to chance.  You cannot book Marriott hotels more than 50 weeks in advance and even then not all the hotels will have their reward rooms listed at that time so often you must continue to check on the Marriott web site almost daily to nab the rewards room at the hotel you want.  FOr example I heard all these horror stories about how hard it was to use points at the Marriott in Rome.  At exactly 50 weeks in advance of our travel date I logged onto Marriott.com and was able to book a room using rewards points with no problem.  However the closer you get to your travel dates the more the possibility arises that you might have to use a "anytime reward" rather than a regular reward to get your room.  The anytime rewards cost you more points but can be used if there are no regular reward rooms available.


----------



## parthiban (Aug 21, 2008)

Thanks again for all the replies, there's some fantastic information in there, unfortunately it's so balanced!

@Johnny99: Yes you're right, it was basically mentioned as a week in Egypt for 6 on business class, on which I'd stick a value of £10k. It's a fair argument, at £18k for the same 3 weeks, it does make me wonder whether I've done the right thing. I notice that you mention using points as well though, have you found it works well? If it does, then I'd rather stick with this than resale as obviously then I drop this option but I'm worried that when converted to points, it doesn't actually go as far as I might think...............

As I've been stressing a bit over this, I just went on to the Marriott site, picked Aruba at random and checked how much it would cost to book for 3 weeks in Feb. Came to $800 per night, which roughly works out to £8.5k. Taking management fees into account of £2k, I would have saved £6.5k  

Is that realistic or have I made some stupid assumption when doing this and I'd never be able to get this in a million years?


----------



## parthiban (Aug 21, 2008)

Sorry if this sounds like a stupid thing to ask, but does anyone have any examples of trips they've done with points?

I'd love to hear about what is actually achievable to help make a decision


----------



## Icarus (Aug 21, 2008)

parthiban said:


> The way it seemed was that given that we spend a lot each year on hotel bills, as long as the system is as flexible as they said, we should save a lot of money in the long run.



Here's the thing. Timeshares don't sell themselves.

The salespeople are really good when they throw out all these facts and figures at you during the sales pitch, but if you think about it, they are not usually comparing identical things, nor are they comparing the prices that most of us will actually pay for hotel rooms, condo or timeshare rentals when we really go on vacation. Then there's the Maint. Fees on top of that, and if you finance the purchase, interest charges on top of that.

When buying from the developer, they almost never make sense financially. If they did make sense financially, why are they discounting it so heavily and throwing in all those MR points?

Also, many people think that the trade for points option doesn't make sense financially either.

So re-run all those calculations on your own, using real figures, etc, and think about it.

-David


----------



## m61376 (Aug 21, 2008)

What bothers me most when reading your post is not the resale vs. buying direct discussion (which it seems you have at least thought about, although I am not sure if you fully understand the cost versus benefits) but the statement that the salesman convinced you to buy "gold weeks (supposedly the best ones for trading as it's a golf resort)." IF you envision visiting mostly during Gold season than that's the right purchase- BUT Gold season weeks, in general, do not trade as well as Platinum weeks (there may be a few weeks in the season that trade as well or better than Platinum weeks depending on the resort).

Many times people are swayed by a sales pitch that makes buying a Gold or Silver season better- but it is only better if that's when you want to go. Don't buy Gold because you've been told that it is the best for trading value.


----------



## thinze3 (Aug 21, 2008)

parthiban said:


> .....As I've been stressing a bit over this, I just went on to the Marriott site, *picked Aruba at random *and checked how much it would cost to book for 3 weeks in Feb. Came to $800 per night, which roughly works out to £8.5k. Taking management fees into account of £2k, I would have saved £6.5k
> 
> Is that realistic or have I made some stupid assumption when doing this and I'd never be able to get this in a million years?





Please note that you most often will NOT find any availability in a Marriott timeshare using points. Other than Orlando, everything else is very difficult to find.

Also, the bonus points received at purchase may be used for a Marriott timeshare IF you find one, but points obtained by "trading your weeks for points" cannot be used for a Marriott timeshare.

You can test this by trying your Aruba bookings again - with and without Marriott rewards points.


Terry


----------



## parthiban (Aug 21, 2008)

Thanks for that, it did need some clarification, but to book the Marriott resort in Aruba I thought I wouldn't need to use points, and would rather trade my weeks?

Damn, I seem to be going backwards in terms of understanding how this works..........


----------



## thinze3 (Aug 21, 2008)

parthiban said:


> Thanks for that, it did need some clarification, but to book the Marriott resort in Aruba I thought I wouldn't need to use points, and would rather trade my weeks?
> 
> Damn, I seem to be going backwards in terms of understanding how this works..........



Sorry, didn't mean to confuse you. You DO NOT need points to go to Aruba. You can simply trade in. Imagine three weeks on the beach in Aruba when the kids are back in school.  

Terry


----------



## JOHNNY99 (Aug 21, 2008)

Parthiban,
My portfolio is a mix of direct purchases from Marriott and resale.

I then supplement my Marriott points by purchasing 100,000 points per year from marriott for £630.No initial capital outlay.

Do points translate into true travel experiences-have just returned from  holiday in USA.

Resale weeks were exchanged for two weeks at Cypress harbour, Orlando

Points were exchanged (using Marriott travel packages) into BA miles to obtain 3 return Club class tickets direct to Orlando.Points also used for 4 night stay at Renaissance Times square, New York .Best rate available was £220 per night.

Have previously used points to obtain BA miles for Club class tickets to Hong Kong and Bangkok.

Points have been used for stays in JW Marriott's in Hong Kong and Dubai.

Cheers


P.s Anyone teased you with "Accomodation certificates / bonus weeks that are sometimes available if /when you deposit one of your week's with interval international?


----------



## KathyPet (Aug 21, 2008)

The OP has already stated that the the primary reason he bought was to get the Marriott reward point option so why is everyone telling him to rescind and buy resale when he wants those points.  Do not be swayed by those who are absolutely convinced that resale is always the way to go. There are plenty of us who love our MR points and use them to great advantage.


----------



## Latravel (Aug 21, 2008)

Kathy, I was going to write exactly, almost word for word, what you wrote!  Why bother him with rescind comments when he already specifically stated he wanted the points?


----------



## CatLovers (Aug 21, 2008)

KathyPet said:


> ... so why is everyone telling him to rescind and buy resale when he wants those points.  ... There are plenty of us who love our MR points and use them to great advantage.



Because economically, the OP can achieve his goals with the money he saves from buying resale, while still having the flexiblity and options that come with using cash instead of points.  

Just because people love their MR points and use them well (good for you that you found a way to get the greatest value out of your purchase; I have loads of MR points and I like using them too!) does not mean that you can't achieve those same objectives by using good ol' cash.  I think people are trying to do for the OP what the folks here at TUG do well - offer a perspective that perhaps someone did/could not consider in the heat of the sales spiel.


----------



## LAX Mom (Aug 21, 2008)

parthiban said:


> Sorry if this sounds like a stupid thing to ask, but does anyone have any examples of trips they've done with points?
> 
> I'd love to hear about what is actually achievable to help make a decision



I purchased my Marriott timeshares resale, but I have a Marriott VISA and also earn points by Marriott hotel stays. I also purchased about 200,000 points from Marriott a few years ago. Currently Marriott allows each individual to purchase 50,000 points per year for $625 (.0125 per point).

I have used points for stays when I couldn't get a hotel at a resonable cost. For instance, parent's weekend at my son's college. Everything was very expensive and we stay a few nights on points at a Residence Inn.

My oldest son was married in June and I used a travel package for his honeymoon to Phuket. The cheapest airfare I could find was at least $2,000 each, so I booked them on United using my Marriott points. For 235,000 points I got 120,000 miles on United (exact cost for their round trip tickets in coach) and a category 5 certificate. I was going to have them stay at the JW Marriott for 5 nights using the certificate and then at the Marriott Phuket Beach Club on an II exchange. However I was able to get 2 weeks from II, so I still have the certificate. 

Marriott has told me that I can upgrade this certificate to a category 7 for an additional 35,000 points (the difference in the travel package price, 270,000 instead of the 235,000 I paid). I think I'll do that and use it for a week in Rome this spring. I have a reservation that I made a couple of months ago for Rome. You have to book these 10-12 months in advance in order to use points on a travel package/ standard reward stay.

I love Marriott points!!


----------



## LAX Mom (Aug 21, 2008)

One additional thought.......

What about just purchasing one unit from Marriott right now instead of three? You could try out the timeshares, Marriott hotel stays and points program without the committment of owning three units. If you really like it and the points program works for you, you can always purchase from Marriott in the future.


----------



## Icarus (Aug 21, 2008)

parthiban said:


> As I've been stressing a bit over this, I just went on to the Marriott site, picked Aruba at random and checked how much it would cost to book for 3 weeks in Feb. Came to $800 per night, which roughly works out to £8.5k. Taking management fees into account of £2k, I would have saved £6.5k



This is what I mean about comparing apples to apples.

Now you should go search for Aruba condo/timeshare/house rentals and see what you can find for much less than $800 per night. I searched quickly and found a beautiful beachfront 5 br home for $650 per night during the high season, which includes February. I'm sure you can find cheaper homes for rent there. I found that one without even trying very hard.

$800 per night is $5,600 per week. You can get a heck of a rental for that price and far less than that price.

You really have to take a step back when using the salespersons methods of showing you that it makes economic sense. Are you really going to pay $800 per night for a week or more in Aruba if you don't own a timeshare?

Also, I wonder how easy it is to trade a gold season week in Spain for a platinum season week in Aruba?

-David


----------



## KathyPet (Aug 22, 2008)

Here is the issue with saving thousands and buying resale.  First of all I don't want to use or trade my timeshares every year.  That's why we are selling our Barony Beach week.  Too many weeks and no desire to use them all since we have now discovered other ways to travel like cruises.    I currently have two weeks banked with II and we will be trading for points for 2009.  If I couldn't trade for points every other year heaven's knows how many weeks we would have banked.  Not interested in renting since Marriott changed the rental program and no I am not interested in the hassle of trying to rent directly.  Yes, in theory you can save money and use the money you saved to take the trips you want but in reality would you?   I know we would probably not.  I would have to think long and very, very hard before I spend the $ out of pocket for a two week trip to France using business class air.  Believe me I am not cheap but taking that kind of money out of savings would cause me great angst.  BUT I don't have to think about it because I have my Marriott reward points and I am not paying "out of pocket" for that two week vacation in France because I can get my airfare and hotels for points so while my vacation is still not free when you add in meals and sightseeing it sure is a lot easier on the pocketbook and thus something we are more willing to do.  
I often wonder how many of the posters who insist that resale is the only way to go actually took the money they saved by buying resale and spent it on a trip.  I bet very few have.  It is easier by far to take those expensive trips when you have your MR points to cover your two major expenses which are hotel and airfare.
I am no longer interested in staying every year at some resort location.  You cannot use a timeshare in London, Paris, Rome, Florence, Vienna.  check it out yourself.  There are no timeshares or maybe one in these cities.  If you are not interested in going outside the US or Caribbean then buy your timeshare resale because you are going to have to use it in these locations every year but if you really want to travel and see the world you better have those MR points.  As far as buying them you can only get 100,000 a year and that is going to take you three years before you can get a decent reward package.  I'm not waiting three years apart to take my trips.  By the way travel plans for 2009 include a week at Ocean Pointe in January (traded my MMC for it), a 12 day Alaska cruise in June and a week in Paris in October using reward points. current business class air from Dulles to Paris is $3150 per person and the Marriott is Paris is 539 Euro's per night.  That is $10,000 that I will not be paying out of pocket.


----------



## cwtkm3 (Aug 22, 2008)

Well said Kathy!

I totally agree - we've only had our timeshares since 2002 but have already generated two travel packages. One to Australia and one to LAX next summer, 2 flights in biz in BA (kids in economy paid cash for!). The BA mileage was supposed to be 200,000 return for the two of us but they only took 178,000 miles from our account. Not sure why. 

I know for a fact that our 2005 trip back to Oz (where we used to live and hadn't "afforded" to return to for 11 years!) would have cost us thousands of pounds more withour the MRPs. Plus we wouldn't have had one leg in business class which eased the pain of all those hours in the air. The cost of two rooms at the Sydney Harbour alone amounted to many £££.

Okay - we could argue that if we hadn't bought the Marriott weeks then we'd have had the money - maybe in savings! But in reality I know we would have looked at the true cost and thought no way can we do this in the style we want! Plus like Kathy says I don't think our savings would be spent on luxury holidays.

Yesterday I showed a friend my log of all our holidays since getting into this game. She couldn't believe the things we've done. She's just returned from a 14 night cruise on the new P&O Ventura for over £11,000. That's more than the cost of one of my timeshares and not something we could afford to do for our family at this stage of our lives.

It's each to their own with the Marriott resale vs direct purchase debate but as the OP wants the opportunity to trade for points if need be then he/she should buy from Marriott at a resort he/she will use for the majority of the time and in the season desired.

Buying in Europe is a lot different to buying in the USA. Most people buy direct - there isn't a huge resale market.


----------



## thinze3 (Aug 22, 2008)

I agree greatly with the concept, but am now starting to wory about the availability of flights in the future. Example: I thought I would be waiting by the computer to book "saver" flights to Hawaii next summer. No can do so easily.

Continental has decided not to release and "saver" seats in coach and NO seats at all in first class. I have been watching since day one. Now I am trying to book through United, but also hit a glitch with them yesterday and will try again today. 

Just a thought.

Terry


----------



## KathyPet (Aug 22, 2008)

One more story if I may.  This past Feb I celebrated a big birthday (the big 60).  I wanted to do something special so I decided a week in St. Kitts sounded good.  I requested a trade using my platinum MMC week.  Just to cover myself I also got a Marriott rewards travel package.  Made reservations at the St. Kitts Marriott and got seats on American using FF miles from the package.  I figured I could cancel the hotel reservation and use that part of the package later if the trade came through.  Well the trade never happened.  if i had not had my points to use I would have had to cough up the cash or sit at home twiddling my thumbs for that birthday.  We went and had a wonderful week.  I spent my 60th birthday on a catamaran sailing to Nevis drinking rum punches!


----------



## iamnotshopgirl (Aug 22, 2008)

OK...I understand the value of MR points. I have read the many pro & cons of using them on many threads. Not going to get into another debate about pts. You can get some great deals with pts by using packages (hotel & flight). But for exhanging a t/s for pts just does not sit well with me. Aruba Surf Club gold weeks receive 90,000 pts when exchanging.

90,000 pts X .0125=$1125

The exchange just about meets last years MF's. I rented out my 2BR OS unit for $2800 and probably could have got a little bit more. No big deal to writing up a rental ad and placing it on Ebay, Redweek or Tug. If I need points I will just buy them 

Since Marriott devalued points and changed the rental system it has me wondering if they will make changes again in the near future to both systems including buying packages. Marriott owes me nothing and is in the business of making a profit for its shareholders. As it was pointed out to me in a prior thread. I'm OK with that. I don't like it...but I understand the position. But for value I just can not see giving a unit worth $2800+ for a pt value of $1125 in exchanging for pts.

bob


----------



## thinze3 (Aug 22, 2008)

High rent timeshares and high MF timeshares usually go hand in hand. Those typically are NOT the ones to buy merely for a points option.

As stated before, if you just don't want to bother with renting, don't need more weeks in the bank, and want the added flexibility of points, it may still work for you, regardless of the MF's.


Terry


----------



## susiequeve (Aug 22, 2008)

We own 1 Marriott timeshare (Cypress Harbour) in Orlando.  We have been to Kauai & Maui using our MRPs.  We probably would have never vacationed in Hawaii if not for our points.  The airfare is just too expensive from the east coast.  Actually, we just got back from Maui and I had no issues with the booking process.  It's a bit of work, don't get me wrong, but well worth it having the air and hotel were totally paid for.  JMHO.


----------



## Icarus (Aug 22, 2008)

Yes, the number of points you get for trading your timeshare is fixed at the time of purchase.

The number of points required for hotel stays and travel packages is not fixed over time. Over time, the number of points required for hotel stays and travel packages will increase. And the travel package is for a standard hotel room, not a 2 bedroom timeshare unit. In fact, as I recall, you can't trade points you received for trading in your unit for a timeshare unit at all. They have to be used for hotel rooms or travel packages that include a hotel room.

As emotional as some of these arguments are, 41k pounds is a lot of money. Well, it would be to me. At the end of the day, any discretionary purchase really should be an economic decision, IMHO.

-David


----------



## parthiban (Aug 24, 2008)

Ok, so we've been thinking about this long and hard over the last few days and decided to have a word to our salesman before making a final decision. Offered a few alternatives (Vegas as the main one, which seems to be being pushed whoever you speak to at Marriott) but wasn't really happy with any of them.

As far as a "deal" goes, I think we got the best one going at the moment, so if we're going to stick with it, it would have to be with what we've got. However, although it does still appear to be a great product, I'm not sure it's going to work too well for us.

Although we tend to take pretty expensive holidays, they're all pretty last minute so that would have to change, the appeal of this was that it seemed we could make our money go much further than normal but it's now becoming apparent that this is at the cost of having to work much harder yourself! (which is important to think about as none of us have that much time on our hands)

The final thing is as Icarus pointed out, simply the immense cost of it. £41,000 is a lot of money (almost $80,000 which I was pretty surprised to find can buy a well specced Mercedes SL in the states, not in the UK though  ) and when you think about it, if you leave it in the bank at 5% interest, it'll earn £2,000 a year, plus the extra £2,000 that would have been management fees, and you've got £4,000 of holiday money. Invest it more wisely and you could have much more, and also the option of not spending it on holidays if you want!

I'm not knocking any of you guys that make this work, in fact I'm a bit jealous as you'll probably have better holidays than me (or they'll be the same but you'll spend far less on them) but I'm really starting to think this isn't the right fit for us.

I'm not 100% yet, but have pretty much decided to cancel and leave it at that.............may possibly dabble by buying a really cheap resale week just to try and understand the system though......... 

I just want to thank everyone on here for being so amazingly helpful, one of the nicest forums I've been on and it was so refreshing to get such a balanced view of the whole situation. I'll let you know what I decide in the end, but I can't see anything convincing me to go the other way right now


----------



## m61376 (Aug 24, 2008)

One of the best options for you, posted by someone else earlier, might be to buy a single week, resale. That way, you haven't invested 80K, you can see how the whole thing works and, if you really want the points, can always buy a developer week later.

We are relatively new to timesharing, and went on our first timeshare vacation really by fluke- we won an auction at a fundraiser at my daughter's law school. It happened to be to Ko'Olina. Truthfully, my perception about timeshares before hand was that they were ok accommodations, sort of like woodside cabins; boy were we wrong! I never expected to feel like I was at a resort and, after one or two days, my hubbie said, "why would you want to vacation any other way?"

Truthfully, we traveled for many years as our daughters were growing up all over as three generations; until recently I was lucky to have both parents able to travel with us. We rented 2 or 3 hotel rooms, the kids sharing with us when possible to save money. And- don't get me wrong, our vacations, both land and cruises, were memorable. But, there is an ease to a timeshare vacation. Everyone doesn't have to get going at the same time in the morning to first go somewhere for breakfast. Relaxing on the beach at beach resorts is just that- relaxing. Personally, here-to-fore all our vacations were constantly on the go type trips. Probably because of the space and the facilities, I find timeshare trips conducive to more relaxing vacations. They also make it easier for more extended family trips- there is room for friends (both yours and /or the kids) and then for the kids/spouses as they get older and very conducive for little ones (both yours and, even better- the grandkids  ). Especially when traveling with older kids and/or multiple generations, it really does affect the quality of the vacation. 

So, you might want to consider an option in between diving in head first and buying 3 weeks from Marriott and doing nothing. And, yes, it is true with some planning and searching you might be able to rent for a price such that buying may not make sense, consider 2 things- that will require work and a bit of luck and every year you'll be reconsidering whether or not you want to spend the money. Just something else to consider....


----------



## LAX Mom (Aug 24, 2008)

parthiban-

It sounds like you've given it a great deal of thought and considered how Marriott timeshares would work for you. I think your instinct is good, cancel while you can and possibly try out a cheap resale week.

My husband and I almost purchased a Marriott many years ago. It was very tempting, but for many reasons we decided it didn't work with our travel plans. We tend to make plans last minute and the idea of planning vacations a year in advance scared me. 

About 10 years later I learned a bit more and decided to try a cheap resale week. So we bought a silver season Marriott for $3,500, locked it off and started using it for Flexchange exchanges. Pretty soon I could see I'd need more than one week. I'm very happy with Marriott timeshares, II exchanges and MR points! 

Everyone has different committments, schedules and preferences when it comes to vacations. What works for me, might be impossible for you. So a cheap resale week gives you a change to try out this system without paying $80,000.

Good luck!


----------



## Karen G (Aug 24, 2008)

parthiban said:


> I'm not 100% yet, but have pretty much decided to cancel and leave it at that.............may possibly dabble by buying a really cheap resale week just to try and understand the system though.........


I think you are making a wise decision--you have just this one opportunity to rescind, but there will be many, many opportunities to buy when you find what's right for you.


----------

