# Exchanging my Marriott weeks directly with Diamond?



## BJRSanDiego (Oct 21, 2018)

When the concierge at a Diamond resort was tryijng to talk me into attending an educational (Sales) presentation.  She said that Diamond can offer me free or at least reduced cost exchanges using my Marriott weeks into Diamond locations.  She said that I would be cutting out the middleman (Interval) and instead of paying $199 for an exchange, my cost would either be free or much less.  I was told that I didn't have to buy a Diamond week or points.  I showed skepticism and was told that Diamond makes $ whenever anyone exchanges into one of their units. 

Has anyone else heard this pitch and if so, what is the catch?


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## WBP (Oct 21, 2018)

It will take someone very familiar with Diamond's product(s), and with high integrity, to tell you what is truthful, half truthful, and a lie, or lies. If I may offer a suggestion for your consideration: stay as far away from Diamond people as you can, and whatever you do, do not fall victim to any attempt by a Diamond Representative to sign you up for anything.


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## youppi (Oct 22, 2018)

There is the Club Combination program where you can enroll a non DRI week in DRI THE Club but you need to buy 50% of the point allocated for your week.  Example: if you enroll a 1 bdrm high season then you will get 6,500 pts but you will need to buy 3,250 pts (normally not free) and each year you will have the choice to deposit your week in THE Club or not. When you deposit you got 9,750 pts but when you don't deposit you have 3,250 pts. So, it's similar to enrolling your Marriott's week in the Marriott's Destination Club.

The other program that exist for weeks owner is to join the new DRI destinationXchange network (https://destinationxchange.com/HowItWorks) not affiliated to the point system (not the same inventory) but it still say "At this time, enrollment is exclusively available to owners with Diamond Resorts International". So, except if they have change this limitation but not updated the web site, you can't join this exchange network with a Marriott's week.


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## dougp26364 (Oct 22, 2018)

A little off topic but, having owned in the DRI system (divested this ownership a couple of years ago) and also an owner in the Marriott system, why would anyone seriously consider trading down? DRI is a good system with decent quality but it’s no Marriott. Other than getting into Sedona (DRI has the majority of resorts in Sedona, or so it seems), there’s not that many places you can easily reserve that Marriott doesn’t duplicate and with better resort placement/location than DRI. 

And yes, your right to be skeptical. As mentioned above this sounds like the program where, if you buy points, you can “enroll” non-DRI weeks and convert them to DRI points. But you have to become a DRI owner to enjoy the benefit. Most street weasels haven’t a clue how anyth8ng works. They’re simply saying whatever it takes to get you onto the sales floor.


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## WBP (Oct 22, 2018)

dougp26364 said:


> A little off topic but, having owned in the DRI system (divested this ownership a couple of years ago) and also an owner in the Marriott system, why would anyone seriously consider trading down? DRI is a good system with decent quality but it’s no Marriott. Other than getting into Sedona (DRI has the majority of resorts in Sedona, or so it seems), there’s not that many places you can easily reserve that Marriott doesn’t duplicate and with better resort placement/location than DRI.
> 
> And yes, your right to be skeptical. As mentioned above this sounds like the program where, if you buy points, you can “enroll” non-DRI weeks and convert them to DRI points. But you have to become a DRI owner to enjoy the benefit. Most street weasels haven’t a clue how anyth8ng works. They’re simply saying whatever it takes to get you onto the sales floor.



I was thinking the same thing, why leave some of the nicest timeshare resorts in the world, managed by Marriott (a preeminent timeshare resort developer/manager), for a resort managed by Diamond?


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## BJRSanDiego (Oct 22, 2018)

Thanks for the feedback so far.  When I asked the concierge what the catch was, and asked to I have to buy a Diamond timeshare, she said no.   But I didn't ask about having to buy points.  And the comments about Diamond being on a lower tier are accurate.  They have a lot of resorts in Sedona but in many of the other areas (Tahoe, Kauai, Vegas, etc.) there are often better choices.


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