# Platinum vs gold season for Aruba Surf club



## pefs65 (Jul 14, 2009)

Please give me your thoughts on any major differences for platinum vs gold weeks at the surf club.

Is the weather that much worse gold vs platinum.
I read where Aruba is outside of the hurricane belt.

If I wanted to exchange surf club for other Marriott resorts like Maui Ocean club or Maui Kaui resorts would I be able to with a gold vs platinum wk?

Also I am not seeing that many EOY surf club resales available.

Thanks for your help.


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## ownsmany (Jul 14, 2009)

I think the weather in Aruba is the same year round.  Plat season would trade better than gold, but I think you would have good trade power with gold.  Call interval international and see if they can shed light on the difference in trade power.  Be interested to here myself.


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## Dave M (Jul 14, 2009)

II's Travel Demand Index for Aruba shows a significant difference in trading demand. On average, Platinum apparently has much higher demand than Gold. That's likely because U.S. residents, where the bulk of owners live, tend to think of vacationing in Aruba in winter and early spring, not in summer or fall.

The OP can check out the Travel Demand Index by going to Interval's site, finding the Aruba Surf page (resort code = MAO) in the "Resort Directory" and then clicking on the Travel Demand Index link.


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## pefs65 (Jul 14, 2009)

Yes. Wow. Checking the II travel demand index there is a huge difference btwn platinum and gold.


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## m61376 (Jul 14, 2009)

While Dave is right (as always  ) that II's demand index shows a wide variation between Platinum and Gold, keep in mind that the travel index is region and not island nor resort specific. Aruba is really considered a year round destination, below the hurricane belt with fairly consistent good weather all year.

BTW- MAO is for the Ocean Club and the Surf Club is MSU in II.

People from the Northeast especially (although I did meet more people on my last trip from the Midwest than the Northeast surprisingly) tend to flock down over the winter/early spring months making the Platinum season more in demand, but it is a very popular destination all year and Gold weeks trade extremely well. Before I purchased I had made a similar inquiry and was quite surprised at how well it traded.

Last year someone (I believe it was Terry) had checked Redweek using July 4th weeks at a variety of Marriotts and checked what relative trade value Redweek assigned to the units. The highest value was given to the Surf Club week (more than Hawaii weeks even).

Others have easily traded their SC Gold weeks for the Hawaii Marriotts, especially if you reserve a more in demand week. If you feel you will get more use out of a Gold week, I wouldn't hesitate to buy one.

Very few EOY units were sold at the SC, so finding one on the resale market will be difficult, so you may find yourself looking at every years on the resale market.


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## Slakk (Jul 14, 2009)

pefs65 said:


> Please give me your thoughts on any major differences for platinum vs gold weeks at the surf club.
> 
> Is the weather that much worse gold vs platinum.
> I read where Aruba is outside of the hurricane belt.
> ...



Aruba's "off season" is due to Northern Hemishphere weather not Aruba weather.  

I own a Gold EOY at Surf Club simply because I travel in the summer.  Platnium is only during school months so it is not something I can use.

As mentioned there are very few EOYs out there and MVCI is sold out of them as of last week.  I asked when I went on the tour.


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## MOXJO7282 (Jul 15, 2009)

ownsmany said:


> I think the weather in Aruba is the same year round.




I believe its much hotter in summer. I was there in Feb and it was 85. During summer its closer to 95. that's too hot for me, even with that breeze.


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## elina (Jul 15, 2009)

We own Surf Club gold because we mainly travel during the summer. We have exchanged it every time, the 1 bedroom and lock off separetely. In my opinion it trades well, just traded the 1 bedroom for 2 bedroom in Phuket during high season and last year traded 1 bedroom for Dubai 2 bedroom prime time (New Years week). Also seen lots of Marriott Hawaii units with it. However, the Aruba platinum weeks obviously trade much better, for example I can't see Marriott Crystal Shores with gold week, but platinum week sees it. If you constantly need to travel during peak season I would consider Surf Club platinum purchase. However if you vacation in Aruba during gold season and want occasionally trade for Hawaii etc. even prime season in my opinion the Surf Club gold would be a good choise.


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## Dave M (Jul 15, 2009)

MOXJO7282 said:


> I believe its much hotter in summer. I was there in Feb and it was 85. During summer its closer to 95. that's too hot for me, even with that breeze.


Actually, _ownsmany_ was reasonably accurate. Historical statistics (such as at weather.com) show that the average high in the hottest months (May to October) is 88 to 89. The average high in the coolest months (December to February) is 85. 

Thus, not much difference from one month to another. That's because Aruba is only about 800 miles from the Equator.


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## m61376 (Jul 15, 2009)

Joe- just to add to what Dave said, it actually feels much more comfortable there than Hawaii does, imho, because of the breeze. You don't get the same "roasting in the sun" sensation as you do lying on the beaches in Hawaii. Not that I necessarily agree with them, (because Hawaii has the aesthetics) my family prefers Aruba because of that cool breeze.


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## pefs65 (Jul 16, 2009)

thank you all for all of your great comments regarding weather and trading of gold vs platinum weeks.
these are all very good points for me to consider.


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## potchak (Jul 16, 2009)

Just an FYI, there is a classified ad on tug for an EOY platinum Surf club. Might want to consider it. I was almost thinking about it. I think it was even an oceanview.


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