# [2013] How happy are you with your Marriott ownership?



## SueDonJ

The previous poll for this forum was almost five years old and Marriott products have changed significantly during that time.  The old one has been locked/un-stuck and can be found here.

Please add your vote when the new poll opens.  Thanks.


----------



## jimf41

Last time I voted "happy with occaisional problems". This time I went with "very happy". The DC program has worked out very well so far and I'm able to do things that were all but impossible under the old system. The skim or vig or whatever you want to call it hasn't been an issue.


----------



## jont

I voted very happy. The DC program, IMHO, has been a great addition and has given my family and I a lot of flexibility.


----------



## pedro47

I am very happy !!!


----------



## Beefnot

I see one unhappy vote.  Probably bogey21 or timeos2 sabotage...


----------



## classiclincoln

I voted the same way I did last time, very happy.  Deeded weeks owner and use the crap out of them.  Just got back from Xmas week @ Sands of Kahana in Maui; how can I complain?


----------



## csalter2

*Very Happy!!*

I am very happy with the program. I particularly like the option to be able to rent points from other owners and the ability to save points and borrow points. I forsee me working the two systems I own with Marriott and DRI together extremely well during my retirement.  

I still keep thinking of when right before the DC program was rolled out how there were so many here on TUG that were unhappy before they even knew what the program was. What was even more interesting to me was when they finally got the information on the program and were told that the program would not change anything, people were still very, very resistant. It's amazing how change affects people.


----------



## mjm1

Thanks for starting this new poll.  I also voted that we are very happy with our Marriott ownership. We bought resale and enrolled our unit, which now gives us a lot more flexibility. We are using the DC option for the first time next year.


----------



## vacationtime1

We own two weeks and did not enroll in DC.

We are able to reserve the weeks we want, MF increases have been under control, and the units are top quality.

What's not to like?  Well, maybe the loss in "equity" value, but I blame that on the economy in general, not Marriott.


----------



## Kjgarrett

*Very very happy*

We love our Marriott timeshares. We use them, we trade them, we fiddle with the points.  They are great!


----------



## bogey21

Beefnot said:


> I see one unhappy vote.  Probably bogey21 or timeos2 sabotage...



I really have no opinion re the merits of the new DC Program.  My gripe with Marriott is their cavalier way they, in the past, managed and changed their program to their benefit and to the detriment of Owners.    Hopefully things have changed.

George


----------



## dioxide45

While this poll is very new and the old one had lots of votes, it seems so far that the top rank is up close to 10% over the prior poll.

I voted for the top pick, we are very pleased with the Marriott system and resorts. While we didn't like forking out $2K to enroll our two gold weeks, the added flexibility of points has made the system much more flexible. We also love the consolidated fee structure of DC.


----------



## JimC

We are not a representative sample of Marriott owners or posters to this forum.  The conclusions we can draw from the votes are limited.

After voting here I went back to check my vote and post in the earlier poll.  I voted a higher level of satisfaction, although not a top score, this time around.  Yet I would make pretty much the same comments now as I did in my post then.  I believe the higher satisfaction now derives from coming to terms with the changes the program and the market.


----------



## amyhwang

I am so happy with the program, as well as with most Marriott units we have had at our home resort, Ko Olina, and with resorts we have gotten through getaways.  I just wish we had bought with our friends years earlier!  It's perfect for us, we always look forward to Ko Olina with them, and although we bought our first week (we own two odd eoy weeks) from the developer, we still don't regret it - today that same week would cost twice as much since it's points now.

Only thing is for us, joining points would be stupid.  Keeping our weeks.


----------



## dougp26364

I went with very happy as my only complaint would be MF's. Otherwise we've had good experiences with both our home resorts, exchanges and reservations using the new DC point system. 

Of course I have issues with some of the way things are done but, I have some complaints with every system we own in. None of them are perfect. I look at it this way, Marriott is one of the three systems we own that we'd be hesitant to sell or give away.

On the other hand, I'm not impresse enough with the new DC or it's pricing that I'll recommend friends/family sit through a presentation. After having sat through a DC presentation, I think it's safe to say we have no serious interest in buying additional points at the current price point.


----------



## AndyB

Happy Happy Happy


----------



## DKT

We are very happy with our ownership...we have deeded weeks, but with DC points we have been able to be more flexible with our vacations. Just stayed 3 nights at the Marriot near Disneyland Paris, which turned out to be a great base for our first time in France. We are also Disney point owners so it was an easy ajustment for us.  
Denise


----------



## mofo0228

We were happy deeded owners, just found out our 2 bedroom during platinum season goes for 4175 points.  Yet, Marriott only gave us 2950 for the same unit during platinum season.  
Not happy at all.


----------



## bobbornstein

*Change*



csalter2 said:


> I am very happy with the program. I particularly like the option to be able to rent points from other owners and the ability to save points and borrow points. I forsee me working the two systems I own with Marriott and DRI together extremely well during my retirement.
> 
> I still keep thinking of when right before the DC program was rolled out how there were so many here on TUG that were unhappy before they even knew what the program was. What was even more interesting to me was when they finally got the information on the program and were told that the program would not change anything, people were still very, very resistant. It's amazing how change affects people.



I do this training exercise on how change feels, give it a try. Fold your hands. Note which thumb is on top. Now refold your hands with the opposite thumb on top and make sure all the other fingers move too (remember someone else folds their hands that way). How does it feel? That feeling is our normal response to change. There is an old saying that it takes 21 days (times) to change someone's habbits.


----------



## dioxide45

mofo0228 said:


> We were happy deeded owners, just found out our 2 bedroom during platinum season goes for 4175 points.  Yet, Marriott only gave us 2950 for the same unit during platinum season.
> Not happy at all.



While it may go for 4175 during some weeks of the platinum season, there are going to be other weeks that it will go for much less and perhaps even less than the 2950 you get for your unit. While this may seem like a ripoff, many of us have just gotten used to this "skim". Think of it this way though, you should never have to use your points to reserve a week at your home resort, you still have your week to do that.


----------



## gsarnow

*Poor investment*

While the resorts are nice....how could I ever be happy with buying my units as an investment???. It would have been much smarter to simply rent the units for vacations over the years...we would have saved big bucks..


----------



## Traveling Suitcase

We have a couple of weeks, loved loved loved the old system.  We did reluctantly buy into the new system, in order not to go backward.  The old system meets our needs and I would much prefer to buy additional weeks, not points.  But, we have a bit of everything to try and hedge all their changes.  2 weeks that we use and love, we enrolled in the destinations program but don't find it to be the best thing since slice bread, as we can do more with trades.  Then we did purchased some trust points, and so far really only use it to add days here and there.  Though when we retire, our plan is to put as much together as possible for extended stays.


----------



## puckmanfl

good morning....
Traveling....

no worries...

just keep using your weeks as you are doing.... purchase a resale week if you want to expand... continue to use your DC points as a supplement, not replacement.  Remember, for us Legacy folks  DC is a supplement, not replacement for usage!!! enjoy!!!


----------



## runningemiles

*Making the most of your timeshare- HELP!*

Sadly I have to say we have not been taking advantage of our timeshare like we should these past five years b/c  each year we can never get a week when we need it at our home resort-Barony Beach. We have two children and before that we could be very flexible and I felt like we got our money out of it.  I am new on here in hopes of finding out more information to make this a better process. Even with Interval International we can't get a room at the Barony or other resorts we want to exchange too unless we call the first of January and with my husband's job it is hard to plan that far in advance. We have two weeks at the Barony and I did just get one exchanged through interval to Cypress Harbour which we are so excited about.  I love Marriott and the quality of their resorts.  I just feel like we are not taking full advantage and have tried to sell it also for the last 5 years with no success. It sounds like everyone on her is pleased and I would be if I could get my weeks. Is there a link on here that will explain what others are meaning by DC and IHMO.  Sounds like this is helping a lot.  Thanks so much and sorry for my lack of knowledge with all of this...busy momma of two kid


----------



## csalter2

runningemiles said:


> Sadly I have to say we have not been taking advantage of our timeshare like we should these past five years b/c  each year we can never get a week when we need it at our home resort-Barony Beach. We have two children and before that we could be very flexible and I felt like we got our money out of it.  I am new on here in hopes of finding out more information to make this a better process. Even with Interval International we can't get a room at the Barony or other resorts we want to exchange too unless we call the first of January and with my husband's job it is hard to plan that far in advance. We have two weeks at the Barony and I did just get one exchanged through interval to Cypress Harbour which we are so excited about.  I love Marriott and the quality of their resorts.  I just feel like we are not taking full advantage and have tried to sell it also for the last 5 years with no success. It sounds like everyone on her is pleased and I would be if I could get my weeks. Is there a link on here that will explain what others are meaning by DC and IHMO.  Sounds like this is helping a lot.  Thanks so much and sorry for my lack of knowledge with all of this...busy momma of two kid



Hello,

Don't feel bad there are lots of others who are not using their timeshare weeks as effectively either. You have come to the right place so that should be a start in the right direction. 

I want to first make sure that you don't have to wait until January first to make your reservations. You can do it a year in advance of any week you would like to go. In your case since you own two weeks, you can plan your vacations 13 weeks in advance as long as you use your weeks consecutively  or concurrently. Now I read that it's is difficult for you to plan far in advance because due to your husband's job. That does put you at a disadvantage when you try to travel during peak periods which are usually when kids are out of school.  The planning in advance is key to timeshare ownership.


----------



## bazzap

I am sure Carlito meant to say that owning 2 weeks you can plan your vacations 13 months (not weeks) in advance. Good luck.


----------



## csalter2

bazzap said:


> I am sure Carlito meant to say that owning 2 weeks you can plan your vacations 13 months (not weeks) in advance. Good luck.



Okay smarty, I changed it to "own". However, isn't it true that if you own it, that you now have it?


----------



## bazzap

Perhaps I am confused now?
I wasn't trying to be "smarty", and just commenting on 'months rather than weeks' not 'own rather than have'


----------



## momeason

csalter2 said:


> Hello,
> 
> Don't feel bad there are lots of others who are not using their timeshare weeks as effectively either. You have come to the right place so that should be a start in the right direction.
> 
> I want to first make sure that you don't have to wait until January first to make your reservations. You can do it a year in advance of any week you would like to go. In your case since you own two weeks, you can plan your vacations 13 weeks in advance as long as you use your weeks consecutively  or concurrently. Now I read that it's is difficult for you to plan far in advance because due to your husband's job. That does put you at a disadvantage when you try to travel during peak periods which are usually when kids are out of school.  The planning in advance is key to timeshare ownership.



You can make the reservations 13 months out and hope you can go. If you cannot go, you could rent it out on this site. If you choose a good summer week, you should be able to rent it and at least not waste your timeshare weeks.
I would make 2 reservations and hope you can go on at least one.


----------



## csalter2

*My Error*



csalter2 said:


> Okay smarty, I changed it to "own". However, isn't it true that if you own it, that you now have it?



I am sorry you're so right! I meant that you can rent 13 MONTHS in advance instead of 13 WEEKS. That's a huge difference. I am sorry I did not catch that error. 

Thankfully you did.


----------



## Fasttr

Running....to answer your two questions...."Is there a link on here that will explain what others are meaning by DC and IHMO.", I offer the following....

DC is Destinations Club, referring to the newer Marriott points system of vacation ownership.  Will also see DC Points mentioned, which could mean Trust Points and/or Enrolled Weeks Points (also referred to as Legacy Points).  Confused yet?  Might want to check out the thread about trust points and legacy points being the same thing...or not.

IMHO is In My Humble Opinion.

Good Luck!!


----------



## Beefnot

runningemiles said:


> ...Is there a link on here that will explain what others are meaning by DC and IHMO...


 
The quote above clarifies the context to the previous post.


----------



## snowgoose

My two weeks at Kanapali Maui are great and was the thing to do when I purchased them in 2000.  However, times have changed and now you can find equal or better facilities for rent for a lot less.

I did not go for their new points system because it does not fit my lifestyle like owning weeks does.

I would never purchase again.  When I purchased they made it very clear (in fact I had to sign forms) that I was not purchasing as an investment - boy were they right - as an investment they are a huge loss.

I'm not complaining, I'm merely pointing out that times have changed. That the current available facilities for rent would preclude me from ever buying a timeshare. Timeshare's excessive annual dues are the main killer.

Here's a real example for this year:
My two weeks, Kanapali Marriott, 1 Bedroom/2 Bath Ocean View. Total costs were $282.00 per night (including dues) plus I have $46,000.00 purchase price invested.

My two weeks, Kanapali Condo rental, large 2 bedroom/2 Bath/Full Kitchen/Dining Room/Living Room/Patio gated community. Total comparative costs were $156.00 per night and I have nothing "invested".

Even if you ignore the investment, the condo rental is a better deal.  The one disadvantage is it does not sit on the ocean, thus no "ocean View", it sits on the golf course.


----------



## dioxide45

snowgoose said:


> My two weeks at Kanapali Maui are great and was the thing to do when I purchased them in 1982.  However, times have changed and now you can find equal or better facilities for rent for a lot less.



Are you sure you bought at the Marriott Maui Ocean Club in 1982? Marriott hadn't even gotten in to the Vacation Ownership business until 1984 when they aquired American Resorts (now Monarch) in HHI.


----------



## snowgoose

dioxide,

Good eye - my error.  Purchased in 2000

I mixed this purchase with another membership I purchased in 1982.  I corrected the above post.


----------



## taffy19

snowgoose said:


> My two weeks at Kanapali Maui are great and was the thing to do when I purchased them in 2000. However, times have changed and now you can find equal or better facilities for rent for a lot less.
> 
> I did not go for their new points system because it does not fit my lifestyle like owning weeks does.
> 
> I would never purchase again. When I purchased they made it very clear (in fact I had to sign forms) that I was not purchasing as an investment - boy were they right - as an investment they are a huge loss.
> 
> I'm not complaining, I'm merely pointing out that times have changed. That the current available facilities for rent would preclude me from ever buying a timeshare. Timeshare's excessive annual dues are the main killer.
> 
> Here's a real example for this year:
> My two weeks, Kanapali Marriott, 1 Bedroom/2 Bath Ocean View. Total costs were $282.00 per night (including dues) plus I have $46,000.00 purchase price invested.
> 
> My two weeks, Kanapali Condo rental, large 2 bedroom/2 Bath/Full Kitchen/Dining Room/Living Room/Patio gated community. Total comparative costs were $156.00 per night and I have nothing "invested".
> 
> Even if you ignore the investment, the condo rental is a better deal. The one disadvantage is it does not sit on the ocean, thus no "ocean View", it sits on the golf course.


I have to agree with you but it may change again because people are starting to come back to visit the Hawaiian Islands big time so rents may go up from what they were the last few years.  We already noticed this in Oahu so Maui will follow soon after too.

Since you own two weeks, you should be able to reserve your weeks 13 months out.  You need to be on the ball and make your reservations early with an atomic clock.  There are many posts about it if you Google for the atomic clock.


----------



## m61376

I love my timeshare travels and think it has added a wonderful dimension to our vacations. I was less than thrilled with many aspects of the DC program, particularly its rather paltry allocation of points to Caribbean weeks, despite some of those weeks commanding among the highest rental rates amongst the Marriott properties, but I have to accept what I cannot change and go with the flow. I did vote for the second choice though because of the limitations of the DC (imho, of course). 

That said, I recently had the pleasure of seeing a first time reaction close up- our daughter, husband and our little grandbaby came with us to Harbour Lake and we had 2 2BR villas, which they assigned side by side (a big plus!). She has travelled all over the world, and I wasn't really sure how'd she react. She was very pleasantly surprised and impressed- couldn't believe how nice the accommodations were- how great the resort was, how nice the villas were, how much easier it made travel with a toddler, how great it was for the 3 year old, who is just starting to sleep through the night, to have his own room, the convenience of the kitchen, etc. She commented repeatedly and was clearly impressed at both the convenience and the cost savings. We didn't miss not staying at one of the Disney park resorts and actually found the short drive there to be easier than the bus system in many respects.

One last comment- for those still contemplating on whether or not to join, you can make good use of those 3780 (or thereabouts) holding points that are given as a bonus to enrollment. I managed to get 3 2BR villas for 6 nights each in Orlando; I landed up only needing two, so I rented one on the last minute board here on Tug, so my net cost was basically the Getaway price for the weeks I used. If you utilize the bonus points effectively, enrollment can be essentially free (of course, it helped to combine the offer with a special 40% off Marriott discount that they were running through the end of June).


----------



## snowgoose

iconnections said:


> Since you own two weeks, you should be able to reserve your weeks 13 months out.  You need to be on the ball and make your reservations early with an atomic clock.  There are many posts about it if you Google for the atomic clock.



I'm not sure why you mention this.  I've never had a problem reserving.   I always reserve 13 months out and always had my requests honored.


----------



## taffy19

snowgoose said:


> I'm not sure why you mention this.  I've never had a problem reserving.   I always reserve 13 months out and always had my requests honored.


I reacted on your last sentence and must have read your post too quickly.  Sorry that I misunderstood you.  



snowgoose said:


> My two weeks at Kanapali Maui are great and was the thing to do when I purchased them in 2000.  However, times have changed and now you can find equal or better facilities for rent for a lot less.
> 
> I did not go for their new points system because it does not fit my lifestyle like owning weeks does.
> 
> I would never purchase again.  When I purchased they made it very clear (in fact I had to sign forms) that I was not purchasing as an investment - boy were they right - as an investment they are a huge loss.
> 
> I'm not complaining, I'm merely pointing out that times have changed. That the current available facilities for rent would preclude me from ever buying a timeshare. Timeshare's excessive annual dues are the main killer.
> 
> Here's a real example for this year:
> My two weeks, Kanapali Marriott, 1 Bedroom/2 Bath Ocean View. Total costs were $282.00 per night (including dues) plus I have $46,000.00 purchase price invested.
> 
> My two weeks, Kanapali Condo rental, large 2 bedroom/2 Bath/Full Kitchen/Dining Room/Living Room/Patio gated community. Total comparative costs were $156.00 per night and I have nothing "invested".
> 
> *Even if you ignore the investment, the condo rental is a better deal.* The one disadvantage is it does not sit on the ocean, thus no "ocean View", it sits on the golf course.


----------



## snowgoose

iconnections,

No harm, no foul - thanks for the clarification.


----------



## lumpy

We've been Marriott owners for 13 years.  I found out about TUG before we decided to buy, studied the board (who remembers Fletch?), and then took a promotional trip from Marriott to see Barony but ended up buying a Harbour Point resale week at 15% of the cost of a Barony week.  It has served us well, but we were only offered 650 DC points for the unit so it is not worth trading for DC points.  That said, we are very happy with what Marriott has given us in return for our investment, we would never have taken these trips without being a timeshare owner to spur us to make use of the unit.  Basically have used the TUG advice just within the Marriott family and been very happy with it, although I do have one gripe.  It appears the value of our timeshare, even at resale prices, has taken a dive as seen in the Maui post above, and if you bought with developer prices, then your loss has been greater.  Of the 13 years we have traded, we have only gone outside of Marriott twice, and both times where we sent our kids on honeymoons where there were no Marriott timeshares available.


----------



## bobpark56

*Not as happy as we thought we would be*

When we purchased our MGV 2BR gold week a few years ago, we did not realize (and were not told) that we would forever be classified as lower class members if we bought just one unit. So here we are today as plebes, watching the elites out there getting benefits that we do not receive. 

This is a bit grating for one who believes that all citizens/members should be treated equally. It seems now that "equal" in Marriott  terms means "equal only to those who have purchased no more units than you." 

As just one example, it is not cost effective for us to switch to points. Moreover, we now find that those more elite than us get reservation privileges we do not enjoy. As compensation, though, our unit trades well with II...and that is what we do.

Would I recommend a Marriott vacation club membership to my friends? Not unless they intend to purchase 3 or more units...or to simply reserve the unit they own for personal use each year. Oh, I forgot! Marriott does not sell individual units anymore.


----------



## bogwarrior

*Unhappy*

I feel the whole points system is a scam and my ownership has been devalued ....I am in the process of selling my week


----------



## live4life

I voted very happy - though disappearance of the MFs would be appreciated.


----------



## MOXJO7282

I post to this section every year after I rent our last unit for the year. Just rented our last Grande Ocean OF Gold Unit for 2013.  Again another outstanding year for our rentals.

To date in the 11-12 years we've been doing this we've never had to accept less than MFs and usually on 9 out of 10 make a healthy margin and I don't see that pattern ending any time soon as demand seems to be stronger than ever.

In 2013 we bought 2 Myrtle Beach OF plat at very good prices and sold our MOW OS July 4th also at a good price. Its great that there is a strong resale market for Marriotts where you can buy at good prices and if patience find someone to buy at a good price also.

So another year goes by and I'm still very pleased with our Marriott use/rent model and so grateful I didn't listen to all the Marriott nay-sayers who thought I was crazy buying Marriotts to rent. 

10 years + and I can still say it was the best decision by far I ever made for sharing quality family time together, not to mention financially for my family.


----------



## Fun in the sun

I was at the pool and heard som disturbing news!!! We are already getting way overcharged for less service and I heard they are going to double our fees in 2014. So scary, we need to go talk to someone. I'm not voting on that. This summer was the worst trip ever and the place looked like motel 6 or worse. Never


----------



## Fun in the sun

System is broken, I never get Anything I want unless I pay thru the back door. Very bad way to do business. And it's only going to get harder with these points. What a bad idea!


----------



## samshu9078

*I agree*



jont said:


> I voted very happy. The DC program, IMHO, has been a great addition and has given my family and I a lot of flexibility.



I completely agree. I has given us great flexibility.


----------



## n777lt

I voted "very happy...but" -- we bought only what we'd be happy to use year in year out, we have a fair amount of flexibility (though that's about to end, with grandkids getting into school schedules in a couple of years), we've had some great exchanges (Marbella and Son Antem), AND we've done pretty well with our trust points as an adjunct to whatever we choose to enroll each year.  BUT the lack of transparency about what weeks are in which pot (Trust, II, owned home weeks), the general weakness of the Collette Travel tour offerings, and the need to play the lottery first thing in the morning 12 or 13 months out for our desirable home resorts taint the experience.

So I'm a "generally happy" camper - not trying to leave, just hoping the program will improve.


----------



## Mr. Vker

Very Happy. 

We are not in DC.


----------



## bobpark56

*You need more choices for voting*

You need more choices in your voting list. None really apply to us.

We have one 2BR annual gold ownership at Grande vista.

We have been quite happy with it as a trader.

We are quite happy with the Marriott units we have traded into...with especially high marks going to Marbella in Spain (3 times), Grande Vista, Newport Coast Villas, Surfwatch, and Summit Watch.

We are not happy with the DC program, as Marriott has made it unreasonable for single-ownership members to join DC.

We are not happy with the effect that the DC program has had on reducing the (early?) availability of Marriott resorts for trading.

We are not happy with the prospective resale value of our unit, or with what we were promised by Marriott in way of assistance were we to want to sell.

So color us somewhere in the middle, I guess.


----------



## dioxide45

bobpark56 said:


> You need more choices in your voting list. None really apply to us.



Wouldn't your response be number three; I'm neutral?


----------



## bobpark56

dioxide45 said:


> Wouldn't your response be number three; I'm neutral?



Nope. I have some fairly strong views here.


----------



## Luvtoride

We are very Happy with our Marriott ownership as we are getting ready to leave for Marriott's Frenchman's Cove in St. Thomas on Saturday morning (weather permitting from the NY area).  We have taken the time to understand the program and stay on top of using it for our best advantage.  That reminds me, time to borrow some points from 2015 for a trip we are planning in 2014.  Happy New Year to all!.
Brian


----------



## SeaDoc

*Extremely happy with my Premier Plus Ownership*

It is getting better and better every year...


----------



## tschwa2

I wish Marriott had build more properties that lock off into 2 one bedroom units instead of studio and one bedroom.  Like my starwood in II, I use the Marriott primarily as an exchanger and wish the studio had a little more power.  They wouldn't have needed to build the unit larger or increased the sleeping capacity.  Just build an extra wall or two and a door.


----------



## GregT

*,*



tschwa2 said:


> I wish Marriott had build more properties that lock off into 2 one bedroom units instead of studio and one bedroom.  Like my starwood in II, I use the Marriott primarily as an exchanger and wish the studio had a little more power.  They wouldn't have needed to build the unit larger or increased the sleeping capacity.  Just build an extra wall or two and a door.



I think those days are over, unfortunately. In the new points world, they wouldn't sell any of those units anyway, and I'm not sure if dual 1BRs is in their interest in the points world. 

It does make the Shadow Ridge Enclaves more interesting, and I agree, I would have preferred more dual 1BRs and more 2BR/1BRs that were 3BRs. 

Best,

Greg


----------



## amluckau

*Like Marriott Vacation Club & Destination Club but ...*

Voted Neutral. Thus far all the Marriott resorts have been top notch. I'm disappointed with the decreasing value of points and top-of-the-line maint fees. We bought a fixed week, fixed unit for a premium before Maui Lahaina Towers were built (3 bdrm OF 8205/8206). We've thus far used it every year since it's been open. We really like it there but one reason we haven't traded is because the points we'd get won't even let us stay there then. That's NOT what they told us, i.e., they weren't truthful about the pts pgm. Also, the MF for both the week and pts is substantially greater than what we pay for Welk or DRI for equivalent trading power.

On another note, I've heard rumors that Marriott is looking to sell off the timeshare biz.


----------



## myhrse11

We're happy with our Marriott Timeshares. We own Ko Olina, Waiohai and purchased points as well. We've been able to use our ownership and enjoy the flexibility to meet our changing situation. My only complaint is the maintenance fees which are quite expensive for Hawaii and the points.


----------



## SnowDogDad

I realize this is an older thread, but it appears folks are still reading and responding sometimes.

I'm "mostly" happy with my purchase.  I bought in to a fractional resort which gives me 13 weeks (every 4th week) per year.  I'm very happy with that concept.  It gives me a lot of flexibility from year to year.   I dump my unused weeks in to a rental program that helps me recoup most of my HOA fees. 

I have the option to put weeks in to II for exchange, but I'm still trying to learn more about it.  My initial impression that II is better for people that plan their vacations 1+ year in advance and usually take an entire week at one place.  But, like I said, still learning and those questions would be a different thread.

My beef with Marriott is the Destinations program.   As owners, IMHO, our options and costs were VERY poorly explained to me.  Destinations is exactly the type of program I wish II was.  Marriott is now limiting who can contribute inventory to DC (you must have owned prior to a certain date) and the initial, discounted joiners fee jumped up before I even learned anything much about the program.   Sigh.... so that is what is keeping me from being VERY happy.


----------



## aubailey

*New Points Program*

We bought a timeshare in HHI, SC 10 years ago at a very attractive price but a terrible week #49. We have had no problem trading for summer weeks in Cabo, Puerta Vallarta, and four years in Aruba. In the last couple of years I have "endured" the sales pitch for points. First the price is totally out of context, second I have had no  problem trading without the extra expense. Unless Marriott starts playing "hard ball" on trading I see no reason to go with the points program. Seriously considering selling the timeshare and using TUG as a rental for weeks I need.


----------



## Pater Foley

*Vacation Club points - financial analysis*

The decision to purchase vacation club points can be difficult.  The only way to determine if vacation club ownership represents a good value is to perform a financial analysis.  This requires comparing costs associated with vacation club ownership with the costs of the alternative - paying retail costs for lodging fees.  Before I purchased vacation club points, I created a spreadsheet to determine if there was a financial benefit associated with vacation club ownership.  The spreadsheet was so helpful that I decided to create an application so that I could analyze future vacation club purchases.  This application is called PointsCruncher _[Link disabled.]_  I hope it helps make vacation club ownership decisions a bit easier.


----------



## Lavenderblue

*Ready to sell.*

I purchased a week over 10 years ago and so I guess I am considered a "legacy" owner.  When the  Destination Club system began in 2010, it was so confusing even the Marriott agents didn't understand it so how could they be expected to explain it efficiently  to the owners.  Because of that confusion and not fully understanding it myself, I decided not to enroll. Now after the "dust has cleared" it appears to me that Marriott is charging more money to get less. Since I did not enroll back in 2010, I would have to pay 3 to 4 times more now to enroll. I didn't get the exchange through II I requested for 2014 (and was told by Marriott agent that future II exhanges would be less available)and so decided to request my week for 2015 be rented out rather than lose money, but still have not heard anything back on that...I am about ready to sell.... period ....and get out this system. It's not worth the agravation.... I had always loved Marriott hotels and that is why I chose to buy the timeshare in the first place, but now I am very disappointed in Marriott.


----------



## mjm1

Lavenderblue said:


> I purchased a week over 10 years ago and so I guess I am considered a "legacy" owner.  When the  Destination Club system began in 2010, it was so confusing even the Marriott agents didn't understand it so how could they be expected to explain it efficiently  to the owners.  Because of that confusion and not fully understanding it myself, I decided not to enroll. Now after the "dust has cleared" it appears to me that Marriott is charging more money to get less. Since I did not enroll back in 2010, I would have to pay 3 to 4 times more now to enroll. I didn't get the exchange through II I requested for 2014 (and was told by Marriott agent that future II exhanges would be less available)and so decided to request my week for 2015 be rented out rather than lose money, but still have not heard anything back on that...I am about ready to sell.... period ....and get out this system. It's not worth the agravation.... I had always loved Marriott hotels and that is why I chose to buy the timeshare in the first place, but now I am very disappointed in Marriott.



Before you sell, you should consider how many points you would get per year if you enroll your week. While the cost to enroll has increased, they also give you a lot more Plus Points (a one time use) to offset some or all of the enrollment cost depending on how you use them. The DC program does provide more flexibility in how we use our ownership, but the value you receive will continue to depend on how you use it. I would encourage you to do more research before taking any action either way. 

Let us know what you decide.

Mike


----------



## MSH

Very Very Happy.  

Before we had the timeshares it was always difficult for us to plan and take a vacation.  There were always lots of excuses why we couldn't go: The dates didn't work, I don't want to go there, I'm busy, It's expensive, to name a few.

Now we have three weeks in Aruba and we have gone every year since 2007.


----------



## AsiaExpat

*Hmm Interesting*

I was a Sales Exec for Marriott in Phuket for some years....starting in 2003 and I am pleased to see most people happy...

However, don't you feel a lot of cases you could get the same type of accommodation for the same or less than your maintenance fee???

Here in Phuket a platinum week maintenance is around $1000 Marriott AP Points - whereas when I started selling it was $390!!! (Under weeks system).

Given that maintenance in the US is normally higher and rental weeks cheaper, does it make sense

The purchase price has also more than doubled from Marriott....

I know there are other none financial benefits but...?

Also, for a true comparison and to see the real value (if there is) one needs to include an % for hotel price inflation as this is really the point that unerpins any logic in the T/S or Marriott system

Any thoughts?


----------



## carrollon

*Points System is BAD!*

Dear All - I'm responding a bit late as this was posted last year, but I feel compelled to tell people how bad Marriott Vacation Clubs is now with the points system. They have designed the points system with so many rules and restrictions (their words, not mine) that you can literally lose thousands of dollars of value. If you were a newbie like me, navigating their too busy and poorly designed website, and trying to figure things out after being given a lot of bad information from the sales guy, there was nothing I could do and my points expired without use. One of the customer service people I spoke with literally told me "you'll know for next year". How can a program be so poorly designed that you have to learn things the hard way and figure it out for next year? Sincerely, there's no option at a certain point, you just lose your entire year's value. I would NOT join Marriott Vacation Club if anybody had warned me like I'm trying to warn them. Note - I'm a Platinum with Marriott and nearly a "lifer" as I'm just a few thousand points away from Lifetime Platinum. I believe in Marriott, just not Marriott Vacation Clubs.


----------



## Ec4

*Too complicated!!!*

The system has gotten way too complicated.  There are so many systems within Marriott and trying to keep track of it all is almost overwhelming.  I admit we own in 4 different Marriott systems - A) weeks, B) weeks in Asia Pacific, C) destinations, D) Asia Pacific Points.  Some direct purchase, some resale.  The systems sort of overlap, but often don't and that complicates things tremendously.  To top it off we have 7 different owner numbers!  Why? Partly because systems are incompatible, partly because someone mistyped the name on the deed so Delores and Dolores don't match and thus, can't have the same owner number. Even for the same resort.  Tried to get that fixed - it would require a new deed at additional cost.  Also weeks are in the same online system, but maintenance fees have to be paid in 3 different ways - US and Europe online (multiple payments) when the system works and Phuket by mail to Thailand (last two years have been able to this by phone to US number, but takes considerable time to get to the right person to do that. 

Weeks in AP (Phuket) were first purchase - very happy - used the weeks and traded sometimes. 

Then purchased weeks in Spain and US.  Use and trade these weeks regularly.  Satisfied to a point.  However, Options for trade have definitely been reduced in II and it is becoming more difficult to get initial reservations at resorts, particularly in Spain where many unsold weeks went into destinations program.  In fact for this year I was unable to get a reservation in Spain at all even though I was calling in 2013.  Every week in my season was supposedly completely reserved until I pointed out that it was impossible for every week to be sold out for the next year when the year hadn't begun yet.  That could only happen if they oversold that type of week.  After haggling with a supervisor who admitted that couldn't happen unless they reserved too many weeks for destinations club point owners, i got my weeks reserved.  

 Bought AP points next - totally different system (goes through Singapore).  Use these for extra weeks when I need them, trade for MR points when we don't.  But there are issues.  Different dates for Gold and Platinum season for Phuket depending on which system (weeks or points) are used.  Why? This just adds total confusion to the system.  Also the weeks to points conversion in AP system is permanent, not annual selection as in the destinations program.  Would be happy to do that (there is an even trade of weeks for points whether trading or using unlike the destinations program where there is a premium to trade points and the use them) except the seasons are better for me in weeks system and my platinum week includes 51/52 which is premium in points. See I told you it is complicated having all these different systems.

Bought and enrolled weeks in destinations program next.  I like the flexibility BUT end up with odd lots of points that I paid for and pay maintenance fees on, but can't use because I didn't convert them a year before.  Frustrating.  Also means I have to maintain multiple II accounts.  Wish I could do a permanent conversion of weeks to points an pay one maintenance fee.  

So am I happy with MVCI?  I love our vacations and love that it really forces us to vacation quite a bit by most standards.  I hate the complexity of the various systems.  Overall, I am am frustrated and NOT Happy, but will stick it out.


----------



## Woj

*Maintenance fees are higher than paying for a vacation.*

We have been Marriott owners since 1995. We currently own three Cypress Harbor weeks along with one Custom House week. Our maintenance fees are approx $5400 a year. We recently called Marriott in order to inquire about selling the Custom House week. We were told that currently they are not interested but if they were they would think about buying it for approx $9000, take a 40% fee leaving us with $5400. We paid $21,900 for the week. What a dissapointment! We usually go to Paris for two weeks every year and we can stay at the same Marriott, fly Delta, and it would be less than our yearly fees. Also, if we pay we can go the weeks we wznt rather than the weeks Interval has. Go figure!


----------



## dioxide45

Woj said:


> We have been Marriott owners since 1995. We currently own three Cypress Harbor weeks along with one Custom House week. Our maintenance fees are approx $5400 a year. We recently called Marriott in order to inquire about selling the Custom House week. We were told that currently they are not interested but if they were they would think about buying it for approx $9000, take a 40% fee leaving us with $5400. We paid $21,900 for the week. What a dissapointment! We usually go to Paris for two weeks every year and we can stay at the same Marriott, fly Delta, and it would be less than our yearly fees. Also, if we pay we can go the weeks we wznt rather than the weeks Interval has. Go figure!



Perhaps you are not using your weeks to their potential, or you your travel pattern doesn't fit that of timeshare ownership. You could consider converting your weeks to MR points, then use those points to get a 7 night travel package where you get 7 nights in a category 8 or 9 hotel and 120,000 airline miles. Convert to two packages and two people could fly business or even first class to Europe and get two weeks in a hotel in Paris. I am thinking you would come out ahead. Though if you usually fly coach to Europe, the savings might just me a mirage.


----------



## mfratkin

WE habe neen Marriott owneres at Cypress Harbour for 15  years.  We have successfully been able to exgange into Marriott oceanfront resorts in Hilton Head five times and Aruba three times.  We have also stayed in Ocean Pointe and Willaimsburg.  All of the stays have been wonderful.  However, for the past couple of years we have seen a significant decline in aavailability of Marriott resorts. We were not ablwe to het into Hilton Head lasy year and have been uncuccessful so far this year. We were able to get into Ocean Pointe last year with a non-Marriott exchange that cost us  less than 10% of Cypress Harbour.  So we are starting to question the real value and wondering what we can do to better our chances for Hilton Head in the summer.


----------



## l0410z

mfratkin said:


> So we are starting to question the real value and wondering what we can do to better our chances for Hilton Head in the summer.



I am not sure how to better you chance but I would like to give one opinion of what might be contributing to the challenge with summer HHI other than the popularity of owners going back. 

Redweek has gotten very popular and it is as easy as ever to rent a unit out.  The summer rental in HHI is  relatively strong often getting almost 2 rental dollars for every MF dollar.  This leaves fewer units up for trade.  

As the Marriott usage systems get more complex to control vacation plans, I believe websites like Redweek and the rental section on tug will continue to grow in popularity.  Spending cash for vacation is easy to control.


----------



## KauaiMark

Very satisfied. Wasn't sure about adding the DC points option but it's turned out pretty good for us with being back in II to use "Getaway" weeks.

We've made use of our timeshare every year for "personal use", trading, renting, exchange for DC points to bank & borrowing for a 3-family trip this year to Kauai. 

...Mark


----------



## GrayFal

KauaiMark said:


> Very satisfied. Wasn't sure about adding the DC points option but it's turned out pretty good for us with being back in II to use "Getaway" weeks.
> 
> We've made use of our timeshare every year for "personal use", trading, renting, exchange for DC points to bank & borrowing for a 3-family trip this year to Kauai.
> 
> ...Mark



My opinion is that (almost) all of. Marriott. Hawaii Owners are happy with. Marriott and the DC.  They are the Kings of the system with their ownership. 
Caribbean/Aruba/St Thomas are far from happy as our expensive weeks were treated poorly in the DC. 

YMMV :ignore:


----------



## bazzap

GrayFal said:


> My opinion is that (almost) all of. Marriott. Hawaii Owners are happy with. Marriott and the DC.  They are the Kings of the system with their ownership.
> Caribbean/Aruba/St Thomas are far from happy as our expensive weeks were treated poorly in the DC.
> 
> YMMV :ignore:


Add St Kitts to Aruba / St Thomas.
We really enjoy the resort.
We also still, for now anyway, get good trades through II when we don't stay there.
However, St Kitts has also been treated poorly in DC even though it has our most expensive MFs. (We do find DC a very worthwhile option for electing for points with our other resorts though)


----------



## rylan

GrayFal said:


> Caribbean/Aruba/St Thomas are far from happy as our expensive weeks were treated poorly in the DC.



Exactly my case... multiple week owner at St. Thomas MFC and we basically got hosed on the DC program.  Its no wonder that the vast majority of weeks owners here don't exchange for points, but either use our week or trade into II.
We've also seen a change in the resort and clientele that visits for vacations and its apparent who is week owner vs someone who got in on points, but thats a different story.


----------



## aubailey

*Marriott Exchange*

Been to Aruba Surf Club 7 years in a row and traded our Harbour Point timeshare in Hilton Head. Taken the sales presentation each time with no intention of switching to points. I have had zero issues in exchanging for Aruba. Orginally paid $2500 and maintenance is $1100. Overall I think I made a good deal.


----------



## atkinsge

*Marriott Time Share Poll*

Very Happy. Use 'em, enjoy 'em.


----------



## Wahoo Josh

*Becoming Discouraged Over Time*

I bought a platinum week at Williamsburg Manor Club in 1993, and successfully traded pretty much anywhere I wanted to go until the last few years.  When at Kauai in 2010, we did the DC presentation, but I refused to purchase when I learned my week would only provide about 2300 DC points per year.

The last few years I have made requests in the fall for the following summer for locations such as Newport Coast, Spain, and Virgin Islands.  None of those were fulfilled after a few months, and I was able to trade into alternative locations - Las Vegas, an II Royal Resort in Cancun, and Aruba - the last three years.  This year I ended up accepting a week in Phoenix that I could have rented or bought a Getaway for $850 - quite a bit less than my Maintenance Fee.

I'm trying a new strategy for the summer of 2016 - have already made a request for Ko Olina, Maui, or Virgin Islands more than 14 months in advance.  I'm expecting that Ko Olina will hit, but will be very discouraged if I have to make another second tier choice.


----------



## aberlin

We were pitched the DC system several years ago, but l learned that the points we would get for our deeded unit did not add up to the points needed to use the unit at Marriott Mountainside during the platinum period. When our salesperson left the desk for a few minutes, I looked at his materials on his desk and learned this, but not from him. Strange, but we averted a disaster, to our thinking.


----------



## puckmanfl

good afternoon...

aberlin...  

very confused...

Do you own platinum at MOU and are upset because the "skim" doesn't let you book back in at platinum season with DC points... or do you own Bronze or silver???

just curious...


----------



## l0410z

aberlin said:


> We were pitched the DC system several years ago, but l learned that the points we would get for our deeded unit did not add up to the points needed to use the unit at Marriott Mountainside during the platinum period. When our salesperson left the desk for a few minutes, I looked at his materials on his desk and learned this, but not from him. Strange, but we averted a disaster, to our thinking.



I can only guess based on the limited info. 


If own a fix or floating week at any resort, you do not need to exchange to DC points to go to that resort.  You still do this the old fashion way.  

You are correct, the points you get for your week is not enough to get into the resort you own  for that same size unit in the same season.  This is reason you do not use DC points if this is what you wanted to do.  It is not efficient and would make little sense to discuss it.  If you wanted to go to your home resort and stay less than a week (say Monday-Friday), this might be a good use of DC points. 

Again... only guessing.


----------



## mythologer

I responded "very happy." We bought our first week at Grande Vista in March, 1998. We added to our portfolio over the users, and last July we bought enough points to get us to Premier Plus (13,000), and it turned out to be a good move, because we grand-fathered in as Chairman's Club. Things have changed over the years. Some of the little tricks I used no longer work, but the program offers lots of flexibility. I always pay dues with Rewards Visa (5 for 1), and whenever we have bought inventory I have put it on the Rewards Visa too (but paid it quickly to avoid high interest). I'm about to retire and I think we're pretty well set. The kids were 1 and 3 when we first bought, and we have had awesome family vacations. Now they are grown, so we are looking forward to doing a lot of vacationing. Next year we have a 13-day Italy guided tour and a 7-day Mediterranean cruise, all paid for with points, including airfare, and we still vacation a few weeks per year.


----------



## krj9999

*Good so far*

Only owned a few years, and it's an even year week only.  Not in DC, and purchased resale for a very good price.  So voted very happy.

Made 2 exchanges for my locked-off week in II; both in Flexchange, Waiohai last October and just back from Barony late May this year.

So far I easily see enough "good stuff" in II within the preference period to say I can get good value, and Marriott has many more locations to trade into than Starwood (which I'm less optimistic about my ownership at present).  And E-plus retrade option in II makes things even better should plans need to change, and we don't usually need to travel in peak seasons (both easier to trade and less crowded since kids usually in school).

That's not to say things won't change for the worse over time, as it seems like the industry is constantly changing.

We also stayed at Maui Ocean Club about a decade ago (one of those 5 night promos), Ko Olina in a "hotel room" for a few nights a few years ago, and will be at Imperial Palms on an II exchange later this year.


----------



## rylan

Definitely becoming less and less satisfied with the system.  Apparently Marriott is withholding weeks from being available for II exchanges in much greater numbers, and/or they've found a way to dump more into the trust system for the points people.

Can't even get a confirmation for trading a plat week back into the same resort for a week with the same demand this year.  Previously this would be a very early, guaranteed trade.  Front of mine is trying the same thing but with their Plat Plus week, so is in fact trading down into a plat week in the same resort so should be at the top of the priority list and can't even get confirmed.  Spoke with someone at II and said marriott hasn't even them _any_ inventory for the plat season.  I find it hard to believe that there isn't a single owner that wants to deposit their week.


----------



## DKT

rylan said:


> We've also seen a change in the resort and clientele that visits for vacations and its apparent who is week owner vs someone who got in on points, but thats a different story.



We are also a multi week owners at St. Thomas, and totally disagree. Exactly  what type of clientele are point owners?  Are they better or worse than week owners that purchased at resorts for a third of the price, or resale or interval weeks or the really nice group of people that we met this year who rented on eBay from an owner.  I totally understand the difference of opinion on the points program, but the clientele has always been a mixture of people and to be honest the ones that drive me crazy are the entitled owners.   

Wow, ok that was a rant. 

Just to be clear we are week owners, enrolled and now point owners. We love the variety that we get from all of those options.  We also have always enjoyed the wonderful people we have met at St. Thomas.


----------



## MRVCDCM

*[removed]*

[_Message text deleted.  Advertising is NOT permitted in this forum.  Please review the TUG BBS Posting Rules, especially Rule 2, Paragraphs 4 and 6, before posting again._  Makai Guy, TUG BBS Administrator]


----------



## jimf41

rylan said:


> Exactly my case... multiple week owner at St. Thomas MFC and we basically got hosed on the DC program.  Its no wonder that the vast majority of weeks owners here don't exchange for points, but either use our week or trade into II.
> We've also seen a change in the resort and clientele that visits for vacations and its apparent who is week owner vs someone who got in on points, but thats a different story.



Not sure I understand the last sentence. You are a weeks owner. Are you asking folks on the beach if they are staying on points and then giving them a dirty look or something? Or are they asking you if you own and then giving you a dirty look? I'm an owner too and I use my owned weeks every year and supplement them with DC points or an II trade or rent from MVC. 

The staff did treat me differently the week I rented as I got daily full housekeeping. Other than that I hadn't noticed any difference in the clientele or the staff. You are correct that we didn't make out too well in the DC point allocation. That's a two edged sword though. It doesn't require Hawaii points to get into MFC in high season. 

The reason that myself and others don't trade our weeks into II or convert to points has more to do with the fact that we like St Thomas than it does with getting hosed as you put it. I meet the same folks year after year and everyone seems to like the place. 

Can't say that I've ever looked down on someone vacationing there who wasn't an owner. I was a little jealous of a guy I met at the beach who had traded in on Presidents week with a lockout from one of the desert resorts. Then he told me he got the trade a week before and had to fork over about 3k in airfare for he and his wife.


----------



## Beefnot

jimf41 said:


> Not sure I understand the last sentence. You are a weeks owner. Are you asking folks on the beach if they are staying on points and then giving them a dirty look or something? Or are they asking you if you own and then giving you a dirty look? I'm an owner too and I use my owned weeks every year and supplement them with DC points or an II trade or rent from MVC.



I took the last sentence to suggest that the points owners don't tend to either behave or treat the property in the same way that weeks owners do.


----------



## jimf41

Beefnot said:


> I took the last sentence to suggest that the points owners don't tend to either behave or treat the property in the same way that weeks owners do.



I didn't notice anything that differentiated between an enrolled points user and a trust owner. The way I interpreted it was that someone was misbehaving and after some sort of inquisition it was determined that those folks were not actual weeks owners at MFC. I have observed guest behavior at resorts that I considered not in the best interests of the resort or the other guests and sometimes I've intervened but most times not. I never tried to determine on what status the guest was staying in order to label that group of guests.

Honestly I don't see how this would work. If you see someone throw a paper cup on the ground do you ask them to put it in the trash or do you ask to see their reservation status so you can determine what type of guest is not putting their paper cups in the trash?


----------



## jimf41

Getting back to the title of this thread I'm very happy with my Marriott ownership. Being retired I can travel as long or as much as I like and in fact I would like to add more time to my portfolio. The thing that's stopping me is not the initial cost but the MFs. It would be nice if MVC could work out some sort of discount on MFs for multiple weeks owners.

Some fees like maintenance of the buildings and grounds would not be able to be discounted but maybe something in the admin area could be reduced. If I spread my weeks around and go to different resorts then no discount, but for those of us that spend multiple weeks at one resort MVC incurs the same admin time on me that they do on a single week guest. One time in the Sudoku game of room assignment, one reservation, one welcome gift, one pitch to buy more weeks, one bill at the end and only one email asking to tell them how wonderful my stay was.

It'll never happen but I can dream, can't I?


----------



## jeepie

Maybe you should move to Colorado or Washington...whatever you're smoking is legal there!:rofl:


----------



## Beefnot

jimf41 said:


> Getting back to the title of this thread I'm very happy with my Marriott ownership. Being retired I can travel as long or as much as I like and in fact I would like to add more time to my portfolio. The thing that's stopping me is not the initial cost but the MFs. It would be nice if MVC could work out some sort of discount on MFs for multiple weeks owners.


 
The chief problem you would face is mathematics and backlash due to disparate financial treatment.  A discount to the maintenance fees for multiple week owners must be offset by increasing single week owners' MFs.


----------



## jimf41

_*A discount to the maintenance fees for multiple week owners must be offset by increasing single week owners' MFs.*_

Not if it just reduces MVCs admin costs. They could just pass on the savings to the multiple week owners.

OK, so I'll move to Washington. Colorado has too many mountains.


----------



## jerrbear01

*Marriott Resort System*

We are very pleased with the Marriott Resorts Timeshares we own and the points we own in the recently added Destinations program. One thing I quickly learned about Marriott was that you need to be full-in and learn how to navigate the rules. 

At Chairman's Club level we have a few advantages, but mostly rely on advanced planning to get us where we want to go without hassle. Last minute planning isn't easy yet and until more people trust the destinations program the opportunities are limited, plus I feel Marriott has been slow to invest in Destinations capacity at existing high demand Marriott Resorts which would help to alleviate the tight inventory issue.


----------



## jpd88

*Relatively happy with Marriott Maui*

I'm an deeded weeks owner since 2000 and have not been convinced by the Destination Points presentations.  We use our Kaanapali Marriott about 2 of every 3 years and bank Marriott Rewards Points 1/3 of the time.  To our detriment and Marriott's benefit, over the years the maintenance fee has more than doubled while Rewards Points have remained the same.

I have only one week.  If I would like to stay at Marriott Ocean Club an extra 3 days, what is the most cost efficient way to do this?


----------



## mamasnow

*neutral on Marriott*

Last time I voted Very Happy, this time posted neutral because the addition of DC and straight points systems have made it harder each year to get into our Home deeded weeks at Canyon Villas. We are gold Marriott rewards members so we always have lots of those points for hotel stays and can use those points also towards booking any MVC location or by using our owner's discount; DC deposit with our week never made sense because we don't have any interest in trading. Because our children don't seem the least bit interested in using our time, we may decide to sell sometime next year. We've had marvelous vacations at MCV with many great memories, but never go to update appointments because we have no interest in buying again into an overly expensive system that has very little to do with why we bought MCV in the first place. Glad others are enjoying MCV. You can thank us and others like us for paying the MF's over the years (since 2002, pre-construction!) and helping to keep it in such excellent shape. It remains one of the best properties with upkeep and family friendly amenities.


----------



## mamasnow

Good questions by jpd88 and jerrbear01. Marriott should either increase the Rewards Points or stop over selling in light of the tight inventory. Advance planning has always been important but I have to say that until the last 2 or 3 years, we never had a problem finding a week in or around our deeded time. Otherwise, the MF seems fair to me if we could just get our time every year, which would return me to Very Happy.


----------



## Fayeoctober

At this point, I don't think I am very happy.  Yes we have gotten some really good trades through Interval including a house in Scotland, the Highlands Inn in Carmel, Ca. and most recently Maui for our daughter.  However, going through some old bills, I found information on our maintenance fees going back to 2004.  They were only $554 and are about twice that now.  

We own at the Marriott Manor Club in Williamsburg and there have been times we could rent there for less than what we are paying in fees.  Yes the units are in great shape and some we have stayed in could be lived in as an apartment.  But the maintenance fees have gotten totally out of hand, and I might even consider selling were it now for the fact that the resale value is so low.

It makes me think that the whole timeshare model is just out of date.  In the beginning while there is an activie sales market, the developer subsidizes the fees and people start out thinking they are reasonable.  Then when the property is largely sold, the developer pulls out, and owners are left to fend for themselves with maintenance fees increasing significantly each year.

Wondering what others think about this?


----------



## Finntastic

Very happy with my ownership right now. 1500 points. Just came back from Canadian March break spent in SurfWatch, HHI. Had spectacular weather, shared a three bedroom with my brother and family. Had great vacation and loved  the Island.  No problem at all booking at 10 month window for a 5 day stay. Would have had no problem booking at 12 mon for whole week.  My brother has already asked to use our points for next year as we are doing our encore cruise.  Sat through presentation, got our $125.00 gift certificate, said no to everything- although I think encore for owners was a good deal- happy at present.  Most difficult thing I found was having to wait almost 1 year to use our TS because we are so far from any of the resorts.


----------



## taterhed

I love my Marriotts!

 I just wish they would give me the opportunity to enroll my post 2010 weeks--at less than the cost of a new car.  More like a well-used Yugo kind of price.  

 Waiohai is gorgeous and the staff is fab.  I don't know what Grande Vista is like and probably never will (unless I have grandkids sooner rather than later).

 But, my Waiohai week (from my MGR studio) was fabulous.  Who can't use two weeks on Kauai?  I'm sure my week in Spain will also be fab.

 Strong trades, rising resale value, known quality, II exchanges and a huge network of resorts.  (ok, a great big network, not truly huge).

 I should sell these things!   (ok, jk on that. )


----------



## ihmkkbg

Voted very happy

We are legacy owners and bought the minimum DC points to enroll all weeks. Takes some work tracking and planning, but would do this any way for vacation planning.

Chairmanship Club level has the biggest perk to us to work either the home resort location 13 months out or flip back into the DC program. The deeded weeks have the lowest MF increases vs the those that pay DC MF's that seem to cover the uncolectables from the over aggressive sales folks. We can opt into cruises, Collette travel, Pulse and the homes easy to meet the changing needs of our vacation.


----------



## drlee

We're overall happy. We love the resorts, love the opportunity to visit Maui every year, and have loved every resort we've visited. There are a few issues, of course: very VERY hard to trade weeks via Interval. (At least into prime properties, due to lack of inventory getting to Interval) We are among those unhappy with the "skim" on depositing a week for points, not being worth as much as is deposited.
But we are very happy with the personnel, both at the resorts and in the office, helping to make reservations, etc.


----------



## bvogel7475

What is the criteria for happy.  Am I happy that my maintenance fees alone are more expensive than what it would cost me to rent instead of own my timeshare...or is it the fact that Marriott will only give me $3,600 for a 1 bedroom 1 week villa Platinum Ski timeshare at the Marriott Timberlodge that I paid $26,000 dollars for in 2008...or the fact that they gouged me with a 14% interest rate for 10 years to buy this timeshare.  I was OK with the rate at the time because the fact that it would depreciate 88% in 8 years never crossed my mind.  Sure, the place and service is pretty good if take out the fact that this timeshare is going to cost me $40,000 in loan payments and $10,000 in maintenance fees over a ten year period.  I should be shot for buying this timeshare and then the management of Marriott should be criminally prosecuted for robbery.


----------



## dstmartin47

*Marriott Timeshare*

After 27 years of ownership I can only say i am very happy with our two weeks.


----------



## willfly13

As an owner of an Asia Pacific property, I can say that I am happy I now have more than 6 resorts to choose from without exchanging through II.
The locations are beautiful and every property I've been to has been enjoyable.  But, would I do it again?  Probably not.  MFs are high and as bvogel said, there are many places for rent at equal prices.


----------



## VacationForever

Happy with the quality of the resorts and happy with the quality of trades that I get in II.  The only thing I wish Marriott would do is to have buyback program for all resorts and all weeks, anything above $0.  I bought my weeks from Marriott resale department and I am trying to get a listing through them now that our travel needs have changed.  I was told that my weeks will be waitlisted but no ETA in sight as to when they will move.  They also indicated that they did not have a buyback program at that point in time but would gladly accept a deedback for free.  I guess I missed the window for when they were buying back the weeks at my resort.


----------



## elaine

this poll/thread spans 3 years. Interesting to hear the answers. We stay at M's almost every year but do not own (trade in or pay cash), but looking to buy either M, Hyatt, or HGVC in the next 2 years, as we will be pre-retirees with more travel time. Keep um coming.


----------



## BocaBoy

We have gotten a lot of enjoyment from our ownership, but if we had it to do over again we would probably buy only one week to get into the system.  The reason?  Out of control maintenance fees, which will probably force us to sell all but one of our weeks in a few years.  We have already reduced from 6 weeks to 3 weeks because of the maintenance fee increases.


----------



## MartinHD28

Very happy. So far the good things we expected have been as good as we expected and the negative things have been about as negative as we expected.

The main thing we tried to manage before purchasing was our expectation. There is an upside and a downside to everything. Managing expectations and compromise seem to be the orders of the day when dealing with timeshares.


----------



## birddog31

bvogel7475 said:


> What is the criteria for happy.  Am I happy that my maintenance fees alone are more expensive than what it would cost me to rent instead of own my timeshare...or is it the fact that Marriott will only give me $3,600 for a 1 bedroom 1 week villa Platinum Ski timeshare at the Marriott Timberlodge that I paid $26,000 dollars for in 2008...or the fact that they gouged me with a 14% interest rate for 10 years to buy this timeshare.  I was OK with the rate at the time because the fact that it would depreciate 88% in 8 years never crossed my mind.  Sure, the place and service is pretty good if take out the fact that this timeshare is going to cost me $40,000 in loan payments and $10,000 in maintenance fees over a ten year period.  I should be shot for buying this timeshare and then the management of Marriott should be criminally prosecuted for robbery.


Straight shooter. That was half depressing but good point. 

Sent from my SM-G920V using Tapatalk


----------



## Sunbum

I love the resorts, no problem there. The booking process is a joke. Especially for high demand weeks at high demand resorts. there is NO 13 month inventory available more the 12 most popular weeks. So MCVI told us to buy more weeks, so we could book out further, that no longer works as too many people have done that. So, you might as well just own one week. the booking advantage is gone.


----------



## larryallen

I like owning a Marriott week fine and can easily sell mine for more than I paid since it was a resale week bought privately. I make very good money renting the week out each year so have never used my owned week and thus will probably keep it. However, ultimately I still think renting offers the best flexibility and access to all weeks and all resorts that is far superior to ownership. For example, if I need two units the same week during Christmas or something like that I can easily accomplish that through redweek, Ebay, etc....  Not so much as an owner. For those that are flexible with their travel renting is ridiculously cheap as the last minute deals can be absolute bargains. So, while I did turn down a sale last year I would probably accept the next offer I get just to have one less thing to worry about each year.


----------



## scpoidog

bvogel7475 said:


> What is the criteria for happy.  Am I happy that my maintenance fees alone are more expensive than what it would cost me to rent instead of own my timeshare...or is it the fact that Marriott will only give me $3,600 for a 1 bedroom 1 week villa Platinum Ski timeshare at the Marriott Timberlodge that I paid $26,000 dollars for in 2008...or the fact that they gouged me with a 14% interest rate for 10 years to buy this timeshare.  I was OK with the rate at the time because the fact that it would depreciate 88% in 8 years never crossed my mind.  Sure, the place and service is pretty good if take out the fact that this timeshare is going to cost me $40,000 in loan payments and $10,000 in maintenance fees over a ten year period.  I should be shot for buying this timeshare and then the management of Marriott should be criminally prosecuted for robbery.



Not to kick you while you're down, but it probably depreciated 88% the day after you signed the contract.  But a 14% interest rate in 2008?   2nd mortgages and equity loans were going for what 4% If you bought in 2008 right before the economy tanked.   That was just a bad decision. 

Hopefully you got some good vacations and memories out of up your week.


----------



## suenmike32

I’ve classified myself as neutral mostly because at this point in our lives the questions in the poll (as asked) don’t seem to fit my feelings.

We’ve owned 4 units for 12 years, all purchased on the resale market. Have enjoyed virtually every year at our home resorts, however, times change. The aging process kicks in and packing and moving and packing and moving not only becomes tedious, it’s sometimes difficult.

I’m grateful for what I’ve learned about the TS process…but mostly grateful to TUG.

Would I purchase again? No, not knowing what I know now, (thank you TUG)

Would I recommend purchasing timeshares?…not very likely. My children don’t even want our remaining timeshares, (both T/S being great locations). But their lives have changed as well. They see tuitions, weddings etc as far more important than a $1500+ maintenance fee.

Would I get out if I could? Yes…I’m slowly divesting myself, (sold 2) and trying to sell the others.

I just wish Marriott had a “reasonable” exit strategy that is not designed to squeeze every dime out you. I always knew I would not get my money back, but my last venture into contacting M regarding a buy-back, was insulting! And remember, I purchased resale. I ache for those that purchased from M (or any other developer) when they were selling weeks in the 37k range.

Lastly…”points” were nothing that I would EVER be interested in. I’m sure there are benefits regarding choices and flexibilities, but when I think back to what my 15,400 points would cost (at today’s point cost),
I think it’s preposterous. Then add in the higher cost of MF per point…NO WAY

There doesn’t seem to be an exit strategy for point owners either.

Again, I’ve enjoyed them for several years, however, I wish they had a question in the survey….”would you get out if you could”? it would be YES!

Mike


----------



## Finntastic

Happy with my ownership.  This year most of my maintenance Fees were paid for by family that used our points at a Hilton Head resort that they loved despite the weather being cool this year.   Using points off season makes for cheap accommodations in beautiful locations.  We used the cruise deal this year that came with our encore package.  Loved cruising and think i used my encore package to my advantage.   We actually have only used our points this year for a one night stay in Fort Lauderdale after our cruise. The rest were used by family. A win win this  year.


----------



## snowgoose

Unhappy.  Marriott MOC has priced themselves out of the market.  With my two weeks maintenance fees hitting 1983.00 per week I now selling them back to Marrriott.  Last February cost me 285.00 per night at MOC when you figure Hawaiin tax plus maintainance fees.  I'm renting a full size 2 bedroom condo/home in gated complex on golf course in Kahanapali for 160.00 nite plus 225 cleaning fee.  Park at the front door is a plus.  MOC was nice in 2000 but not the same market today.


----------



## luvmypt

So happy that we sold ours so no more maintenance fees.


----------



## dioxide45

Looking at the survey, though as unscientific, I am a bit surprised that only 70% of people are happy with their ownership. I would have expected higher numbers, at least from the knowledgeable bunch on TUG that tend to get more value from their ownership.


----------



## bobpark56

We like our ownership (purchased in 2006), but dislike the Destinations Club. By the time they take their cut, we have too few points left for a decent exchange. So we refused to join...and have been getting good exchanges through Interval International.

We like our Starwood ownership more...mainly because they let us exchange within the system without taking a skim, and that lets us get 13 nights for our 1-week ownerships when we stay off-season. We never deposit these resorts with I.I.


----------



## Steve Fatula

Purchased sometime before 2000, have travelled the world, and am very happy. The ownership was purchased direct from Marriott, which of course is not necessarily the wisest thing to do, however, it has nevertheless worked out, probably somewhat lucky. The deal was actually an excellent deal (excellent defined as almost impossible to beat on a direct purchase). We ended up with 2 overseas paid trips at no cost to us and several other perks that really were useful. Desert Springs seems to trade very well, into numerous places that they keep telling us we can't trade into but do. Just takes some persistence. We did later buy a minimum points just to enroll the week. This then allowed us to recently add on to the points total via resale market at rock bottom prices (which ends up less rock bottom due to the transfer fee of course). The costs can actually be quite attractive, just depends how you travel and how you use the system. For example, we generally get to go to 2 "presentations" each year, which we *gladly* do. That earns us, by itself, 50,000 points per year, valued at around .9 cents each = $450 per year. Since we have owned for close to 20 years, they have given us around $9,000 just in rewards points. $450 per year for 2-3 hours of "work" isn't bad. So, just the rewards points have paid for our original ownership (not to mention the value of the other incentives which we use to our advantage), so, the only money we are out (other than yearly fees) is for the minimal points, plus now our add on that passed ROFR a few weeks back. The value of the incentives we got + the rewards points paid for our original ownership + the minimal points purchase. So, our only expense has been the yearly maintenance and II. 

We priced out recent stays in Australia via online sites to see what they would cost to rent (not Marriott, the discount sites). We were ahead by $3,100 for the 3 weeks we stayed in villas. That is, $3,100 in maintenance fees under the cost of renting the same places. 2 of the 3 weeks were from our original purchase which was paid for long ago so there is no additional cost to add to that. 

We like many saw very little value in the points. However, after having used it, and done some analysis, we can see where it could be good as a cheap addon. With our recent point purchase and the discounts that go with the new ownership level, I can see us getting 5-7 weeks per year out of it and our ownership. The lockoff has proven to be invaluable. The trade value of that detail has proven to be the most cost effective part of the program. We've traded into so many gold or elite level II resorts all around the world, from Hawaii to Chile, various islands, Australia as mentioned, etc. all for a lockoff. 

This ownership has "forced" us to travel like we never would have. And we've enjoyed every minute. We just got back a few weeks ago from Australia, we spent 4 weeks there at 4 different locations (including the MVCI there). Airfare - 0, stays - 0, our only expense was food, entertainment, shopping. Since I am retiring at year end, we'll have plenty of time to enjoy those 5-7 weeks each year.


----------



## forestgump14

I have been very happy with my Marriott timeshare.  I bought a 3 Bedroom Lock-off which for us was the best way to go.  We get one family trip and one husband/wife trip for the price of one maintenance fee.  We have not converted to DC points yet and will hold out as long as inventory is available with Interval.  I have had absolutely no trouble trading my unit for:  Maui Ocean Club, Newport Coast Villas,
Aruba Surf Club, Aruba Ocean Club x3, St, Kitts, Oceanwatch Villas and others.  I just traded my 2 Bedroom for Frenchman's Cove in St. Thomas next year that went through the first week available.  I also have received some unbelievable deals on Getaways.  I also own Wyndham timeshares that were much cheaper but not nearly as easy to use and quality is sub-Marriott.  The one thing that I like that Wyndham does is bill MF's monthly and for those that comment that MF's are too high it makes it easier to vacation.  Our family has been able to take vacations that we never would have.


----------



## DeeCee

travelover said:


> I have been very happy with my Marriott timeshare.  I bought a 3 Bedroom Lock-off which for us was the best way to go.  We get one family trip and one husband/wife trip for the price of one maintenance fee.  We have not converted to DC points yet and will hold out as long as inventory is available with Interval.  I have had absolutely no trouble trading my unit for:  Maui Ocean Club, Newport Coast Villas,
> Aruba Surf Club, Aruba Ocean Club x3, St, Kitts, Oceanwatch Villas and others.  I just traded my 2 Bedroom for Frenchman's Cove in St. Thomas next year that went through the first week available.  I also have received some unbelievable deals on Getaways.  I also own Wyndham timeshares that were much cheaper but not nearly as easy to use and quality is sub-Marriott.  The one thing that I like that Wyndham does is bill MF's monthly and for those that comment that MF's are too high it makes it easier to vacation.  Our family has been able to take vacations that we never would have.



Just wondering if you mind sharing where you own and what season? Thanks.


----------



## sandesurf

bogey21 said:


> I really have no opinion re the merits of the new DC Program.  My gripe with Marriott is their cavalier way they, in the past, managed and changed their program to their benefit and to the detriment of Owners.    Hopefully things have changed.
> 
> George


Totally agree!


----------



## WyldSmurf

I am happy most of the time with my Marriott weeks and destination club points; 2 weeks Legends Edge in FL  (marriott resale), Aruba Surf Club and Destination club points bought from Marriott (all weeks enrolled). I think I have been able to use every way of trading to get the destinations I have wanted (week swap, points, Week plus points, II and even a tour). I have been able to take wonderful vacations with my wife, kids and extended family without worrying about quality of the resort and trying to bargain shop me to death. I know the hotel points are not as valuable but for short and long trips I have not had to pay double digit hotel fees daily and that works for me. I find with the many options it is becoming more difficult and time consuming to get the location and days I want but thankfully my job is flexible so it has worked out. With my FL weeks (I bought before the destinations club program) I do not think their point values offset the maintenance fees and I think many other owners might feel this way. I wish I could trade out the gold week for another location I would actually use that has a reasonable amount of points. I think I will go back to using more II trades and points to get stays beyond 7 days as I found that more point efficient when trading. I hope the maintenance fee growth can stay reasonable otherwise I might just drop the Florida weeks.


----------



## forestgump14

DeeCee said:


> Just wondering if you mind sharing where you own and what season? Thanks.



I own Marriott Grande Vista Platinum and I always book spring break weeks


----------



## brianfox

So glad we discovered TUG many years ago.  It saved us a bunch of money and made vacationing easy.
Wife and I went to Ko Olina way back in 2008 for a presentation and although we didn't sign on any dotted lines, the trip home was spent talking about all the great things we could do with a lockoff week.  Once home, I started doing research on Marriott and kept running into this place called "TUG".
Finally decided to go there and it blew my mind.  Learned about resale weeks and how much we could save by purchasing the week resale.
Also learned how people were gaming the system by buying an inexpensive Marriott resort, splitting the unit and getting two weeks in Hawaii.
But one of the TUG commandments kept sticking in my mind "Thou Shalt Own Where Thou Desire to Stay"...
We ignored that and purchased the least expensive week we could find - a Red week at Marriott Branson (resale, of course).
Although we WERE able to get a couple of exchanges into Hawaii in the summer, it was a pain in the butt - checking every morning to see availability, holding off on purchasing airfare to the last minute. So we sold the Branson (taking a $2500 loss) and purchased a "better trading" unit at Desert Springs Villas (Resale) - still ignoring the commandment.  Same pain in the butt, but we got the Hawaii weeks a bit easier.

Then the TS market took a hit and Ko Olina weeks started appearing for $10K, so we purchased one, then a second.  Sold the DSV week (at a $2000 loss).
But we finally had weeks where we wanted to stay. No more exchanging.  This was the way to do it - just as TUG recommended.
Those $10K weeks are worth about $6K each today, so that's some more value loss.

We are closing now on two Waiohai weeks ($5500 each).  Waiohai is where we want to stay now, so we rent out the MKOs, which make us some money every year.

I truly don't care that I can't get Marriott points every year and can't take points for our weeks.  We own where we want to stay.  We don't have to deal with exchanging.  We own 4 resale Hawaii weeks for less than half of Marriott was asking when we first attended the presentation.  And that includes the resale losses we took on Branson and DSV along the way.

We are very happy we purchased Marriott, and even more happy we researched with TUG before doing so.
In retrospect, we could have rented where we wanted to stay instead of buying any weeks, and we would have a lot more money in our pockets.  but I'm betting we wouldn't have vacationed some of those years.  That's one of the few things our presentation adviser did NOT lie to us about long ago - owning timeshare encourages you to use it every year.

We have stayed in Hawaii for 3 weeks every year for the past nine years.  Wife and kids love Hawaii and she is a teacher so we got into timeshare with a daunting goal: three consecutive weeks in Hawaii in the summer.  That is about as difficult as it gets.


----------



## gaile

Please bear with me. I am a legacy owner from way back. Have not kept up with changes. Not sure what DC even means. Can you explain what changes have helped you? I own a deeded week, not points. I have traveled a lot and far but not always with timeshares. Can't decide if I want more or less since I am now widowed and retired.


----------



## Kimber9999

I am suppose to close on buying 4,000 Marriott timeshare points program.  We plan to travel for 2 weeks every year but I am afraid 4,000 points will only get me one week.  Only my husband and me so studio / 1 bedroom is all we will need with the exception of every other year needing a 2 bedroom.  Any advice will be appreciated as to if 4,000 is enough points


----------



## vacationtime1

It depends entirely on where you want to travel and in what season.  For example, 4000 points (+/-) will get you only one week in Hawaii in a one bedroom unit.  Here is a points chart:

http://vacationpointexchange.com/pointschart/points_charts_2018.pdf


----------



## Berea1

Kimber9999 said:


> I am suppose to close on buying 4,000 Marriott timeshare points program.  We plan to travel for 2 weeks every year but I am afraid 4,000 points will only get me one week.  Only my husband and me so studio / 1 bedroom is all we will need with the exception of every other year needing a 2 bedroom.  Any advice will be appreciated as to if 4,000 is enough points


ndo

Hold - off!!  If you own a Marriott week which gives you access to Interval International, you have access to thousands of  Marriott getaways such at Orlando where you can stay at Marriott Sabal Palms on the grounds of the Marriott World Centre for under $750 per week.  Ebay Marriott timeshare sales has 15 Florida timeshares and 5 South Carolina timeshares that you can acquire for free or for less than $200, a great buy.  Just a thought.  Patrick


----------



## 1st Class

gaile said:


> Please bear with me. I am a legacy owner from way back. Have not kept up with changes. Not sure what DC even means. Can you explain what changes have helped you? I own a deeded week, not points. I have traveled a lot and far but not always with timeshares. Can't decide if I want more or less since I am now widowed and retired.



DC = Destination Club (points)

Points offer flexibility but at increased cost compared to legacy weeks.  You'll find a wealth of information if you search for "destination club (DC) points in the Marriott forum.


----------



## suenmike32

I think the post has gotten somewhat off topic.
The past several posts have not addressed "how happy" they are with their ownership.


----------



## Mar-Gun

I have been going to the Maui Ocean Club most every year since 2001. I used a buddy's unit and or bought a week on eBay till 2010 when I bought an annual and an odd and even year. 1 bed Ocean View. A year or so after the points system started I converted to it. Last year I used my points for the first time and Split my stay between Maui and Kauai. When we got to the Kauai we found out that we had been given somebodys lock off and not a 1 bedroom. The room was very old and had not been updated. The toilet had been pissed on. We went to the manager and wanted a room comprable to our maui and she informed us that an email with all the rooms details was sent and it was our problem if we didn't refuse it then. I found the email addresed welcome to your Villa. On the 4 th page was the details there were 4 ememoties one of wich was sheets. The staff brought us a counter and appliances however the room had only one receptical so there was no way to plug anything in. We had all ready been to Costco we found a dumpster out back and dumped it. We charged our phones in the car, eat out every meal, learned to never take the elevators,  used the public restroom in the lobby and spent the week. I listed my units on red week and sold one right away. I will never ever trade again . Once was enough. I'm wondering if I would be better off converting back out of the points system as I will only use my home Maui units from now on.


----------



## TourGirl

gsarnow said:


> *Poor investment*
> 
> While the resorts are nice....how could I ever be happy with buying my units as an investment???. It would have been much smarter to simply rent the units for vacations over the years...we would have saved big bucks..



I would have to say that you are not maximizing your points.  We've stayed at Aruba (used 1,925 for a 2 bedroom which was renting for $5,600 at the same time), St. Thomas (3,575 points for a 2 BR that was renting for over $10,000) and Maui (4,250 points that was renting for $7,200) for instance--and which I would not have paid the cash for).  So LOVE LOVE LOVE my ownership!


----------



## TourGirl

Berea1 said:


> ndo
> 
> Hold - off!!  If you own a Marriott week which gives you access to Interval International, you have access to thousands of  Marriott getaways such at Orlando where you can stay at Marriott Sabal Palms on the grounds of the Marriott World Centre for under $750 per week.  Ebay Marriott timeshare sales has 15 Florida timeshares and 5 South Carolina timeshares that you can acquire for free or for less than $200, a great buy.  Just a thought.  Patrick



It seems to me that a lot of people focus on the "less e


Berea1 said:


> ndo
> 
> Hold - off!!  If you own a Marriott week which gives you access to Interval International, you have access to thousands of  Marriott getaways such at Orlando where you can stay at Marriott Sabal Palms on the grounds of the Marriott World Centre for under $750 per week.  Ebay Marriott timeshare sales has 15 Florida timeshares and 5 South Carolina timeshares that you can acquire for free or for less than $200, a great buy.  Just a thought.  Patrick



I think that works if you are looking at staying at the same place in a relatively low cost resort.  We use our DC points for stays at St. Thomas (3,575 points for a 2 BR for 8 nights that was renting for over $10,000 for the week at Marriott.com), Aruba (1,925 DC points for a 2 BR 6 nights that was renting for $5,600 on Marriott) and the Ritz in San Fran (2,250 points for 5 nights in a 2 BR that was renting for over $10,000).  None of these were available as a Getaway.


----------



## TourGirl

Kimber9999 said:


> I am suppose to close on buying 4,000 Marriott timeshare points program.  We plan to travel for 2 weeks everywo year but I am afraid 4,000 points will only get me one week.  Only my husband and me so studio / 1 bedroom is all we will need with the exception of every other year needing a 2 bedroom.  Any advice will be appreciated as to if 4,000 is enough points



It does help to work the program too to get the most out of the points.  Skipping one or two weekend nights saves us a ton of points and we try to go on "shoulder season" just off main times to save points.  Also, we love the new Escapes with the crazy cheap DC stays and full weeks if you can go within 60 days!


----------



## Finntastic

Went to Surfwatch this March for our Canadian March break.  12 of us went.  2 3 bedroom condos.  1 garden and 1 ocean side.   Everybody was happy with our timeshare!   Weather cool but beats our 4 feet of snow!   Only regret was not being able to stay longer.  Still happy with my timeshare. Wish they had some closer to me (I live northern Ontario) but when I retire it won’t matter so much.


----------



## suenmike32

Even "happier yet"...as I've sold my third t/s, (see post #115). Currently down to 1 manageable unit in Myrtle Beach. Easy to drive to and and excellent trader. At almost 77, I see ourselves enjoying our last one for a few more years despite the 
occasional S/A and the yearly increase in M/F.
With only one week left we are unable to utilize the 13 month perk but "getting out" with about a 50% loss of our initial outlay seems to be worth it. As I said in #115 things change, life marches on....but at this point it seems to be in a sprint!


----------



## TravelTime

I am very happy. Own weeks and DPs. Excellent purchase prices on resale market. Able to book last minute trips at 25% discount on points. Able to plan at 13 months out when I want specific destinations and resorts. Can use DPs at Ritz Carlton instead of buying a fractional for exorbitant price. So far, so good.


----------



## l0410z

runningemiles said:


> *Making the most of your timeshare- HELP!*
> 
> Sadly I have to say we have not been taking advantage of our timeshare like we should these past five years b/c  each year we can never get a week when we need it at our home resort-Barony Beach. We have two children and before that we could be very flexible and I felt like we got our money out of it.  I am new on here in hopes of finding out more information to make this a better process. Even with Interval International we can't get a room at the Barony or other resorts we want to exchange too unless we call the first of January and with my husband's job it is hard to plan that far in advance. We have two weeks at the Barony and I did just get one exchanged through interval to Cypress Harbour which we are so excited about.  I love Marriott and the quality of their resorts.  I just feel like we are not taking full advantage and have tried to sell it also for the last 5 years with no success. It sounds like everyone on her is pleased and I would be if I could get my weeks. Is there a link on here that will explain what others are meaning by DC and IHMO.  Sounds like this is helping a lot.  Thanks so much and sorry for my lack of knowledge with all of this...busy momma of two kid



Not sure when you own but if it is for summer, my suggestion is book early for two weeks in July.  Since you own two weeks, you can book 13 months in advance and do it back to back.  You can go or rent the weeks.   Summer rental should get you at least 2700 per unit.  You can take the money and rent a timeshare on redweek, take a cruise or book into a hotel anywhere you want to go. anr to.


----------



## Ewiike

I would be very happy , but this is a second year we can't get a week at our home resort , Harbour Lake! I find it very annoying that if there is no available week in your season , you simply loose that week! It happened last year and it probably will happen this year...


----------



## dioxide45

Ewiike said:


> I would be very happy , but this is a second year we can't get a week at our home resort , Harbour Lake! I find it very annoying that if there is no available week in your season , you simply loose that week! It happened last year and it probably will happen this year...


Are you reserving your week exactly 12 months in advance? What weeks/season are you trying to book?


----------



## bazzap

Even if you left it too late to book an available week with MVC, you should have been able to do a Marriott deposit into Interval for subsequent years exchange use (unless you left it even too late for that)


----------



## Ewiike

dioxide45 said:


> Are you reserving your week exactly 12 months in advance? What weeks/season are you trying to book?


No , unfortunatelly I wasn't sure if we can go or not....we have platinum week , from Jan-Aug31. If I want to book for October for example , first I have to book in our season , then deposit it with II , and book it( and pay II fee of course.. ). Now they saying , there is no av week in my season at all , so , there it goes our week again.
On the other side , we have a week with Sheraton VV, we can use our point whenever and wherever we want , no restrictions. 
I find Marriot's system very complicated to use , not user friendly at all....I would be ok with another Marriott resort in Orlando , but I can't get it only in my home resort and then exchange it with II....


----------



## Ewiike

bazzap said:


> Even if you left it too late to book an available week with MVC, you should have been able to do a Marriott deposit into Interval for subsequent years exchange use (unless you left it even too late for that)


Yes , it was too late for that....the only av week was Apr.29, and there is a 14 days requirement to deposite it with II!
At least they should let use book a week in an off peak season( we want to go in October anyway)


----------



## bazzap

Ewiike said:


> Yes , it was too late for that....the only av week was Apr.29, and there is a 14 days requirement to deposite it with II!
> At least they should let use book a week in an off peak season( we want to go in October anyway)


I still don’t understand though.
If as you say your season runs from Jan-Aug 31, you should still be able to do a Marriott deposit to Interval. 
You don’t have to book a specific week yourself to do a Marriott deposit to Interval so I don’t believe you should be restricted by the week of Apr 29 being the only one available.
MVC Owner Services and/or the Interval contact here on TUG should be able to confirm this though.


----------



## Ewiike

To deposit a week with II, first you have to book a week at your home resort , in your season.( this is a way with Marriott , and it upsets me because if there is no av week in our season , than we have lost that year's use , like it happened last year , I spoke to OS , and this is what I was told...)
The Apr.29 was just the only av week in our season, another one may come up , but they can't guarantee it.
And when I called them and said that there are av units through our season , on numerous booking sites , they said that those are the ones owners renting out to thise sites , and I just don't beleive it.


----------



## VacationForever

Ewiike said:


> To deposit a week with II, first you have to book a week at your home resort , in your season.( this is a way with Marriott , and it upsets me because if there is no av week in our season , than we have lost that year's use , like it happened last year , I spoke to OS , and this is what I was told...)
> The Apr.29 was just the only av week in our season, another one may come up , but they can't guarantee it.
> And when I called them and said that there are av units through our season , on numerous booking sites , they said that those are the ones owners renting out to thise sites , and I just don't beleive it.


You can go online and choose let MVC make an II deposit.  You don't need to pick week with this option and it should go through.

Inventory at booking sites bleongs to Marriott, not owners'.


----------



## Ewiike

VacationForever said:


> You can go online and choose let MVC make an II deposit.  You don't need to pick week with this option and it should go through.
> 
> Inventory at booking sites bleongs to Marriott, not owners'.


Just got an E-mail from Marriott , because yesterday I placed a rental request , but they say it's not available , follow the steps in the mail and cancel the request , of course step #4 won't work , there is no " Cancel Request" button , but there is a slight hope to make a deposit with II , so I still working on it...


----------



## Ewiike

VacationForever said:


> You can go online and choose let MVC make an II deposit.  You don't need to pick week with this option and it should go through.
> 
> Inventory at booking sites bleongs to Marriott, not owners'.


Of course I know the inventory belongs to Marriott , but I just wanted an answer from them.


----------



## bazzap

Ewiike said:


> To deposit a week with II, first you have to book a week at your home resort , in your season.( this is a way with Marriott , and it upsets me because if there is no av week in our season , than we have lost that year's use , like it happened last year , I spoke to OS , and this is what I was told...)
> The Apr.29 was just the only av week in our season, another one may come up , but they can't guarantee it.
> And when I called them and said that there are av units through our season , on numerous booking sites , they said that those are the ones owners renting out to thise sites , and I just don't beleive it.


As VacationForever says, to deposit a week with II, you do not have to first book a week at your home resort.
If you choose the option of a Marriott deposit, either online or by phone, they will sort all that out for you without you needing to check availability or do anything else yourself.


----------



## Ewiike

Ewiike said:


> Of course I know the inventory belongs to Marriott , but I just wanted an answer from them.


----------



## Ewiike

bazzap said:


> As VacationForever says, to deposit a week with II, you do not have to first book a week at your home resort.
> If you choose the option of a Marriott deposit, either online or by phone, they will sort all that out for you without you needing to check availability or do anything else yourself.


But they do! I got this answer every time!


----------



## VacationForever

Ewiike said:


> But they do! I got this answer every time!


You can do it yourself online, choose the option of having Marriott make the II deposit.  You do not pick a week for this option.


----------



## Ewiike

Ewiike said:


> But they do! I got this answer every time!


I just got off the phone with them , yes , I need to book a week first at my home resort , THAN I can deposit it with II( either I or they can do it , does not matter , but it has to be a booked , confirmed week)
Owner services placed a request to II to accept my week , even they trying to recover last year's week , so costumer service is really nice and trying to help , we'll see what will happens!
I still find it annoying that we have these " seasons ", and getting a week in another season , we have to go through II!
Otherwise than this terrible booking system( at least comparing to Sheraton's), I love Marriott!


----------



## bazzap

Ewiike said:


> I just got off the phone with them , yes , I need to book a week first at my home resort , THAN I can deposit it with II( either I or they can do it , does not matter , but it has to be a booked , confirmed week)
> Owner services placed a request to II to accept my week , even they trying to recover last year's week , so costumer service is really nice and trying to help , we'll see what will happens!
> I still find it annoying that we have these " seasons ", and getting a week in another season , we have to go through II!
> Otherwise than this terrible booking system( at least comparing to Sheraton's), I love Marriott!


There is either some misunderstanding here or they just have it plain wrong.
You absolutely do not have to book a week first at your home resort.
I suggest you contact Customer Advocacy at
customer.care@vacationclub.com
However, seasons is the way MVC works, so yes if you want to book in another season you do have to exchange via II or (if you are eligible) enrol in the Destination Club points programme and elect for points to book a week in that other season.


----------



## Ewiike

bazzap said:


> There is either some misunderstanding here or they just have it plain wrong.
> You absolutely do not have to book a week first at your home resort.
> I suggest you contact Customer Advocacy at
> customer.care@vacationclub.com
> However, seasons is the way MVC works, so yes if you want to book in another season you do have to exchange via II or (if you are eligible) enrol in the Destination Club points programme and elect for points to book a week in that other season.


I did and they wrote me back: "Thank you for contacting Marriott Vacation Club Customer Care.   You will need to reach Owner Services at 800-845-4226 Monday through Friday from 9:00 AM to 8:00 PM Eastern Time, and Saturdays from 9:00 AM to 5:00 PM Eastern Time.

Sincerely,



bazzap said:


> There is either some misunderstanding here or they just have it plain wrong.
> You absolutely do not have to book a week first at your home resort.
> I suggest you contact Customer Advocacy at
> customer.care@vacationclub.com
> However, seasons is the way MVC works, so yes if you want to book in another season you do have to exchange via II or (if you are eligible) enrol in the Destination Club points programme and elect for points to book a week in that other season.




Marriott Vacation Club Customer Care
Customer.Care@VacationClub.com
800 860 9384"

Haha , I was just asking a simple question...


----------



## bazzap

Ewiike said:


> I did and they wrote me back: "Thank you for contacting Marriott Vacation Club Customer Care.   You will need to reach Owner Services at 800-845-4226 Monday through Friday from 9:00 AM to 8:00 PM Eastern Time, and Saturdays from 9:00 AM to 5:00 PM Eastern Time.
> 
> Sincerely,
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Marriott Vacation Club Customer Care
> Customer.Care@VacationClub.com
> 800 860 9384"
> 
> Haha , I was just asking a simple question...


I am not quite sure how this happened, but the email address I meant to include (and thought I had, but clearly didn’t) is
customer.advocacy@vacationclub.com
I would hope you might get a more helpful reply from them.


----------



## Steve Fatula

Ok, you can keep trying to find someone at Marriott to help and spending too much effort imho, or, you can follow this Marriott document, see page 5 for the start of it. You can do this yourself, in 5 minutes, problem over. Note these words in Marriotts document:

"Let Marriott do the work with the Deposit First method–including reserving and depositing your week"

So, on mvci.com it details what to click to accomplish this without any reserved week. Follow the guide and you should be quite pleased.

https://www.my-vacationclub.com/common/vc/en-us/flash/showme/res/Reservations.pdf


----------



## Ewiike

Steve Fatula said:


> Ok, you can keep trying to find someone at Marriott to help and spending too much effort imho, or, you can follow this Marriott document, see page 5 for the start of it. You can do this yourself, in 5 minutes, problem over. Note these words in Marriotts document:
> 
> "Let Marriott do the work with the Deposit First method–including reserving and depositing your week"
> 
> So, on mvci.com it details what to click to accomplish this without any reserved week. Follow the guide and you should be quite pleased.
> 
> https://www.my-vacationclub.com/common/vc/en-us/flash/showme/res/Reservations.pdf


Thx, but I know this , and no matter how you do it , you ( the owner) or Marriott costumer service has to make a reservation , before it can be deposited with II. It's better if you do the reservation yourself because you can pick a better week , like in my case , spring break time would be much better than August , but if I let Marriott do it for me , they may reserve a not so popular week.


----------



## Ewiike

bazzap said:


> I am not quite sure how this happened, but the email address I meant to include (and thought I had, but clearly didn’t) is
> customer.advocacy@vacationclub.com
> I would hope you might get a more helpful reply from them.


Ok , thx , I tried the new address too


----------



## Ewiike

Ewiike said:


> Ok , thx , I tried the new address too



A same mail from the same guy....I don't think I'll ask again..
"Good day,

To provide you with the requested service you will need to contact our Owner Services Department directly at one of the following:

Owner Services phone: (800) 845 4226 (toll-free in the United States and Canada) or 801-468-4089 (International Callers)
Owner Services email: owner.services@vacationclub.com 

Regards,  


MVW Customer Care"


Ewiike said:


> Ok , thx , I tried the new address too


----------



## VacationForever

Ewiike said:


> Thx, but I know this , and no matter how you do it , you ( the owner) or Marriott costumer service has to make a reservation , before it can be deposited with II. It's better if you do the reservation yourself because you can pick a better week , like in my case , spring break time would be much better than August , but if I let Marriott do it for me , they may reserve a not so popular week.


This is a different problem from when you first posted that you were unable to book a week to deposit into II and it would cause you to lose a week as in last year.  You cannot choose a week that has no more availability.  We have all been telling you to just have Marriott deposit a week for you.


----------



## Steve Fatula

VacationForever said:


> This is a different problem from when you first posted that you were unable to book a week to deposit into II and it would cause you to lose a week as in last in last year.  You cannot choose a week that has no more availability.  We have all been telling you to just have Marriott deposit a week for you.



This is exactly my point of posting. Just do it, assuming your problem remains, you said you could not get a reservation. Then follow the instructions, and you will. Better than nothing right? And you were saying previously that you *must* get a confirmation number, you do not as shown by the instructions. Is the original problem mis-stated or perhaps we did not hear you correctly? Always possible for me at least!

And next year, if you are going to trade, do this at the earliest possible date to make sure you get a good reservation. You can then decide later if you want to use it, or, trade it.


----------



## dioxide45

Ewiike said:


> I just got off the phone with them , yes , I need to book a week first at my home resort , THAN I can deposit it with II( either I or they can do it , does not matter , but it has to be a booked , confirmed week)
> Owner services placed a request to II to accept my week , even they trying to recover last year's week , so costumer service is really nice and trying to help , we'll see what will happens!
> I still find it annoying that we have these " seasons ", and getting a week in another season , we have to go through II!
> Otherwise than this terrible booking system( at least comparing to Sheraton's), I love Marriott!


It sounds like Marriott Vacation Club is already taking care of you here. These are what they call supplemental deposits. Usually offered if you buy a resale and get possession late in your use year. In these cases MVC will often be able to get you a supplemental deposit to at least get something from your usage. For the future, be sure to call early and make a reservation regardless if you know when you want to go. You can deposit it to use it for when you want to travel. Another option is to enroll the week. Your platinum week will get more than enough DC points to travel in the fall off season. One issue you can sometimes run in to when you are getting a supplemental deposit is that Marriott will transfer a deposit to you that was deposited within 59 days of checkin and you end up with a restricted Flexchange deposit.

There certainly is the option of II Exchange-Marriott deposit. Don't call to do this, I don't understand the need to have to call when everyone here is telling you to do it online. This is what is says online about this option.

_*Marriott Deposit*
Marriott reserves and deposits my week with Interval International on my behalf as a Deposit First. Marriott does the work for me. My week is immediately available to other Interval International members and no longer available to me. The Deposit First option gives me up to a three-year travel window and is best if I know I do not wish to visit my home resort._


----------



## bazzap

Ewiike said:


> A same mail from the same guy....I don't think I'll ask again..
> "Good day,
> 
> To provide you with the requested service you will need to contact our Owner Services Department directly at one of the following:
> 
> Owner Services phone: (800) 845 4226 (toll-free in the United States and Canada) or 801-468-4089 (International Callers)
> Owner Services email: owner.services@vacationclub.com
> 
> Regards,
> 
> 
> MVW Customer Care"


Definitely, as everyone says, “Marriott Deposit” online is the way to go.
I am surprised though that it seems from their sign off that your last email was responded to by the same Customer Care team as before.
Whenever I email Customer Advocacy, the response is from an individual manager in their Executive Office.
XXXXXX XXXXXXXX
Customer Advocacy Manager
Executive Office
407-529-2498


----------



## Ewiike

VacationForever said:


> This is a different problem from when you first posted that you were unable to book a week to deposit into II and it would cause you to lose a week as in last year.  You cannot choose a week that has no more availability.  We have all been telling you to just have Marriott deposit a week for you.


Yes , you are right , this is two different problem , and the second one is not even a problem. I was told( by MOS) that I should book 75 days prior my season starts....Gee , I'll try..


----------



## Ewiike

dioxide45 said:


> It sounds like Marriott Vacation Club is already taking care of you here. These are what they call supplemental deposits. Usually offered if you buy a resale and get possession late in your use year. In these cases MVC will often be able to get you a supplemental deposit to at least get something from your usage. For the future, be sure to call early and make a reservation regardless if you know when you want to go. You can deposit it to use it for when you want to travel. Another option is to enroll the week. Your platinum week will get more than enough DC points to travel in the fall off season. One issue you can sometimes run in to when you are getting a supplemental deposit is that Marriott will transfer a deposit to you that was deposited within 59 days of checkin and you end up with a restricted Flexchange deposit.
> 
> There certainly is the option of II Exchange-Marriott deposit. Don't call to do this, I don't understand the need to have to call when everyone here is telling you to do it online. This is what is says online about this option.
> 
> _*Marriott Deposit*
> Marriott reserves and deposits my week with Interval International on my behalf as a Deposit First. Marriott does the work for me. My week is immediately available to other Interval International members and no longer available to me. The Deposit First option gives me up to a three-year travel window and is best if I know I do not wish to visit my home resort._


I just called to make it clear that my week needs to be booked by me or by Marriott before it can be deposited with II , and yes , she said , yes , you can only deposit a booked week with II.
They just offered this supplemental deposit with II , because we have lost the usage for '17 and-I didn't even remembered- '16. Marriott said II will contact me in two days , so far , nothing , so I need to call again tomorrow.


----------



## Ewiike

dioxide45 said:


> It sounds like Marriott Vacation Club is already taking care of you here. These are what they call supplemental deposits. Usually offered if you buy a resale and get possession late in your use year. In these cases MVC will often be able to get you a supplemental deposit to at least get something from your usage. For the future, be sure to call early and make a reservation regardless if you know when you want to go. You can deposit it to use it for when you want to travel. Another option is to enroll the week. Your platinum week will get more than enough DC points to travel in the fall off season. One issue you can sometimes run in to when you are getting a supplemental deposit is that Marriott will transfer a deposit to you that was deposited within 59 days of checkin and you end up with a restricted Flexchange deposit.
> 
> There certainly is the option of II Exchange-Marriott deposit. Don't call to do this, I don't understand the need to have to call when everyone here is telling you to do it online. This is what is says online about this option.
> 
> _*Marriott Deposit*
> Marriott reserves and deposits my week with Interval International on my behalf as a Deposit First. Marriott does the work for me. My week is immediately available to other Interval International members and no longer available to me. The Deposit First option gives me up to a three-year travel window and is best if I know I do not wish to visit my home resort._


That's what I'm saying...."Marriott reserves....." Reserves! No matter who does the deposit , first the week needs to be reserved/booked...etc!


----------



## Ewiike

A quick update....
Not a word from II( MOS said that they will contact me), but look like they were able to recover our week from 2016, as it's deposited with II , and I can't do anything this year's week on the Marriott's website , so maybe something is goin' on...., there is a 2018 unit on my II account , but to exchange , they need a reservation #. 
A few years ago I was able to reserve a unit in our season , even in May or June , things are different this days....


----------



## Steve Fatula

Ewiike said:


> A quick update....
> Not a word from II( MOS said that they will contact me), but look like they were able to recover our week from 2016, as it's deposited with II , and I can't do anything this year's week on the Marriott's website , so maybe something is goin' on...., there is a 2018 unit on my II account , but to exchange , they need a reservation #. View attachment 6310
> A few years ago I was able to reserve a unit in our season , even in May or June , things are different this days....



That's the Interval website, not Marriott which is where you could deposit it. www.mvci.com There, you could deposit it.


----------



## dioxide45

Ewiike said:


> A quick update....
> Not a word from II( MOS said that they will contact me), but look like they were able to recover our week from 2016, as it's deposited with II , and I can't do anything this year's week on the Marriott's website , so maybe something is goin' on...., there is a 2018 unit on my II account , but to exchange , they need a reservation #. View attachment 6310
> A few years ago I was able to reserve a unit in our season , even in May or June , things are different this days....


As indicated, that is the Interval International website. You can't deposit on the II site without a reservation with Marriott Vacation Club first. The problem is that you can't book anything now because there is nothing left to reserve available in your season. You had indicated previously that you had talked to Marriott about possibly getting supplemental deposits in to II? Have you heard anything back on that?


----------



## Ewiike

dioxide45 said:


> As indicated, that is the Interval International website. You can't deposit on the II site without a reservation with Marriott Vacation Club first. The problem is that you can't book anything now because there is nothing left to reserve available in your season. You had indicated previously that you had talked to Marriott about possibly getting supplemental deposits in to II? Have you heard anything back on that?


She said that II will contact me , so far , nothing happened ,but I see one available week on my II account , from 2016 , I assume they were able to recover that year , but nothing else so far...Thx for asking


----------



## dioxide45

Ewiike said:


> She said that II will contact me , so far , nothing happened ,but I see one available week on my II account , from 2016 , I assume they were able to recover that year , but nothing else so far...Thx for asking


The week from 2016 may only be good for a few more months. They usually expire 2 years after the checkin date on the deposit. You may want to check the expiration date and make sure you do an exchange before that date. You must travel beofre expiration, not just confirm an exchange. There are things like EPlus that you can add to extend the expiration date.


----------



## Ewiike

dioxide45 said:


> The week from 2016 may only be good for a few more months. They usually expire 2 years after the checkin date on the deposit. You may want to check the expiration date and make sure you do an exchange before that date. You must travel beofre expiration, not just confirm an exchange. There are things like EPlus that you can add to extend the expiration date.


Haha , it will expire on May 1st....Thanks Marriott...


----------



## bvogel7475

We like our resort (Lake Tahoe Timberlodge) but haven't had the flexibility with our kids schedule to use it in the last 4 years.    Didn't sign up for DC program and it didn't seem like a great deal for us since we own a 1 bedroom villa.  However, whenever I deal with Marriott on the phone (not the people at the resorts) it always feels a little slimy and feel like there is a hidden agenda.   I would like to see them have the same customer service attitude as Amazon or Zappos, or Lands End but like the used car business, I don't feel like they have a vested interest in my well being, just the next sale.


----------



## bvogel7475

Ewiike said:


> Haha , it will expire on May 1st....Thanks Marriott...


Typical Marriott.  I'm sure their phone agents are told to never give exact information as it would allow us owners to nail them down if they lied or made a mistake.


----------



## TravelTime

I have had excellent experiences with Marriott as both a week owner and a DC Trust Points owner.


----------

