# Marriott Vacation Club-Destination program



## Lmpower (Sep 10, 2014)

sorry this going to be long read:

So I was looking and learning what are all my option: If I go with the points system them I can go any where in the world and not worry about finding someone to trade with ( this will apply if I was buying a deeded timeshare in Maui). 

I am also not tied to any weeks , I can book any where and any time as long as I have enough points. 

I am still doing my reading on this points system, Their are some huge draw back - One is the Maintenance fee: $4,500 ( What!) It cost $12.12 for one point UMMMM ok I am thinking about getting 10,000 points Can we say $$$$$$$ those are the only things I don't like... Are their folks that are using the points system now and if so can you please give me your view.... Thanks 






««PREMIER OWNERSHIP: ««

10,00 Points:
Purchase Price: $121,200
Special Price: $103,00
Savings: $18,200
10% down: $10,300
2014 Maintenance fee: $4,500
Club dues: $215
Monthly Payment if financed: $1,607.78 *Monthly payments include closing costs
**Incentive is: 15% Discount AND either 10,000 Plus points or 850,000 Marriott Reward Points

««PREMIER PLUS OWNERSHIP: ««
( please see attachment for added benefits for this level of ownership)

13,000 Points:
Purchase Price: $157,560
Special Price: $133,900
Savings: $23,660
10% down: $13,740
Maintenance fee: $5,850
Club dues: $215
Monthly Payment if financed: $1,710.30 *Monthly payments include closing costs
**Incentive is: 15% Discount AND either 13,000 Plus points or 1,150,000 Marriott Reward Points

« Premier & Premier Plus ONLY Cruises
« Owner Rental Discounts (Premier: 30% off)
« Premier Events (Super Bowl, Kentucky Derby, Masters Golf, U.S. Open, NCAA Final Four, etc.)
« Guaranteed Elite Marriott Rewards Status for 3 Years (Premier: Gold Elite Status & Premier Plus: Platinum Elite Status )
« Exclusive access to luxury Residences located: 

St. Thomas, Aspen, Vail, Lake Tahoe, Bahamas, San Francisco, London


With a Marriott Vacation Club Ownership, you are purchasing a deeded real estate interest. Your interest is represented by Vacation Club Points which are the basis of your Ownership.

Here's how it works:
For a One-Time Purchase Price
You receive an Annual amount of Vacation Points – EVERY YEAR
These Points are Deeded Forever
Use Vacation Club Points for any vacation option in our four Collections: Marriott Vacation Club Collection, Marriott Collection, Explorer Collection, and World Traveler Collection
Marriott Vacation Club gives you the ultimate in vacation flexibility. And as your vacation needs evolve, it’s easy to add Vacation Club Points to match changes in your preferences. Owners lock-in today’s vacation prices and avoid future vacation inflation


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## GreenTea (Sep 10, 2014)

That is A LOT of points and A LOT of money.  Have you looked at the places you'd like to go and compared it to the MOD rate, which you qualify to use even with a small point purchase, like 1500 points.  I booked London not as an elite....its not cheap but the MOD still gives a cash discount.


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## FractionalTraveler (Sep 10, 2014)

Ask yourself a few qualifying questions first:

1. Why are you interested in "Pre-Paying" these types vacations for the rest of your life?
2. Can you achieve the same goal in a more cost effective manner?
3. Are you OK with your over $100K outlay being worth a few pennies at time of disposal?
4. You can go anywhere you want now so what is so special about your investment in this program?
5. Are you OK with 5% maintenance fee increases on average each year?
6. Are you OK with your purchase allotment of points being devalued over time?

Some things to consider as you make your decision.

FT


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## Fasttr (Sep 10, 2014)

A quick Google search brought up THIS online tool, which may help you to determine your break even point (in years) on such an "investment".  

It looks like it only contemplates purchases up to 5000 points, so you will have to cut your numbers for Premier level purchase in half, but it may still be useful to you in your analysis.


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## FractionalTraveler (Sep 10, 2014)

Fasttr said:


> A quick Google search brought up THIS online tool, which may help you to determine your break even point (in years) on such an "investment".
> 
> It looks like it only contemplates purchases up to 5000 points, so you will have to cut your numbers for Premier level purchase in half, but it may still be useful to you in your analysis.



That tool is funny.  Using a purchase of just 1000 Trust points I would get my money back in 48 years or never.

FT


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## Fasttr (Sep 10, 2014)

FractionalTraveler said:


> That tool is funny.  Using a purchase of just 1000 Trust points I would get my money back in 48 years or never.
> 
> FT



Are you saying its inaccurate....or that in reality the results are simply scary?


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## Lmpower (Sep 10, 2014)

1.	Why are you interested in "Pre-Paying" these types vacations for the rest of your life?
I have 4 kids  and I want  them  to take them to different places in the world.   (Side Note: this all started because I wanted my 4 kids to visit their grandparents in Maui)

2.Can you achieve the same goal in a more cost effective manner?

I Am still looking into that right now ( I am reading asking questions)

3.Are you OK with your over $100K outlay being worth a few pennies at time of disposal?

No I am not  But 

4.You can go anywhere you want now so what is so special about your investment in this program?

yes and no I can anywhere I want ( 4 kids in tow It will cost a lot to get a place that is nice and has enough room)


5.	Are you OK with 5% maintenance fee increases on average each year?
Hell No 

6.Are you OK with your purchase allotment of points being devalued over time?
This  I don’t understand – I get 10,000  points and as longs  I have enough points I am good to go



Last thing is  My wife  and  I are 42  now and we want  to have something in place so when we retire we can  just go


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## puckmanfl (Sep 10, 2014)

good morning...

Here goes....

this will also be a long read...

Please understand what you are getting into and let me clear up some misperceptions...

  You are not "eliminating" trading.  You have points but EVERYTHING is subject to availability.  For 25 year MVCD sold "weeks".  There is a huge component of "Legacy owners that own over 450,000 of the 720,000 in the system.  Most of the hot joints  Maui (new towers) ski weeks, HHI summer, Carribean winter are already "owned".  You are purchasing a share in a real-estate deeded "Trust".  There are many units in this trust, but light in the areas above.  MVCD has Trust and Exchange Inventory.  In order for you to get a unit at Maui new towers, you have to hope a Legacy owner deposits their unit in the internal exchange system.  This is not like Disney where you get an open slate at home resort..  I can tell you that Maui new tower units are rare
 birds even with Trust points....

you can rent many of these units including Maui on Marriott.com  and use the best points system of all ($$$$)

for the over $100K you are contemplating spending ..you could puck (i mean pick)  a few resale weeks at Maui  new or old towers and have a gauranteed Maui vacation for life...

remember that you have no home resort thus no guarantees....

Before you purchase I would humbly suggest that you go back to your rep and do a Test drive on his/her computer to check availability at places you would go.  If the rep doesn't own Trust points..then have them call Owners services on conference call and have the VOA check availability...

Most Legacy owners (such as myself) Love the option of points on top of our deeded weeks, but that is not what you are purchasing...


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## Marathoner (Sep 10, 2014)

LMPower,

I also have 4 kids.  My wife & I are of a similar age as you and your wife.  We live in NYC so we probably have similar urban living/vacation constraints and goals.

We own a week at a Marriott and we have been able to make relatively good use of trading through II.  In order to maximize my understanding and use of timeshares, I have also acquired points with Worldmark and a week at Starwood.  I believe that my understanding of my family's vacation desires will evolve as we go on more vacations.  As we do so, we will rebalance our timeshare ownership.  Because the majority of my timeshare purchases have been acquired in the resale market, this will not be as costly an exercise as buying as you proposed.  

Your approach is costly and lacks flexibility.  We have kids colleges to think about eventually; we can lose our jobs tomorrow; we may have financial blockers where we want more cash flexibility.  As a result,  you may want to dip your toes with a smaller purchase and gain some flexibility.  Also, Marriott is not necessarily the best timeshare - it is very good but not necessarily the best.  

I would suggest that you think hard about going into a lifetime commitment (in terms of both initial cost and maintenance fees).  You can always buy more later.  But once you buy, it instantly becomes a depreciating asset with maintenance costs.


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## jimf41 (Sep 10, 2014)

Lmpower said:


> ««PREMIER OWNERSHIP: ««
> 
> 10,00 Points:
> Purchase Price: $121,200
> ...



Or you could do this. Go to this MVCI website.

https://www.marriottvacationclub.co...index.shtml?loc=DB59*1-43X1HC&s_tnt=49554:1:0

Look up Cypress Harbor in Orlando. Tell your sales rep that you want to buy 2 every year Special season 2bdrm units resale. You want to enroll them in DC so you'll have to buy the equivalent amount of points from him. I'll let you crunch your own numbers but this is what you should wind up with.

Legacy points 5300
Trust points 5300

Total points 10,300

2 deeded units @ $8,100 = $16,100
5300 trust points @ $12.12=$64,236
Total price $80,336

Maintenance fee trust points @ $.45= $2385
Maintenance fee Legacy weeks = $2000 (approx.)
Total MF = $4385

It's still expensive but you save $23,000 on the price and a $100 or so on the MF. I don't know what incentives are given with this program but you will get about 400-500k in MRP's just by putting it on the Marriott Chase CC.

You can do the same type of thing in Maui but the prices are higher. Cypress Harbor offers about the lowest price per point of any of the Marriott resales.


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## EKniager (Sep 10, 2014)

Consider a hybrid purchase, that is a resale week (directly from Marriott) worth 5,000 points and then an equal or greater amount of points.  

FWIW, 13K points gets you to Premier Plus status.  

Also, if you don't need Premier or PP, just buy a minimum number of points and rent additional points at $0.55/point (at just a $0.10 premium over the DC MFs) as needed.


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## FractionalTraveler (Sep 10, 2014)

Fasttr said:


> Are you saying its inaccurate....or that in reality the results are simply scary?



Scary results!

FT


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## SueDonJ (Sep 10, 2014)

If we were in the market for more vacation ownership I'd consider in order:

external resales of Weeks, for mostly home usage with occasional exchanges through II;
a Marriott Resales hybrid of a Week and DC Points;
a direct-purchase of DC Points;
an external resale of DC Points.

That list fleshes out to:

If the traditional Weeks model (7 consecutive nights at a home resort with occasional exchanges to Marriott and other branded timeshares) is the goal then no question the answer is purchasing Weeks on the external resale market.
If the goal is a mix of traditional usage and added flexibility beyond II, and the benefits of Premier or Prem/Plus status are important, the hybrid option is the answer.
If money is no object and the focus is on protecting usage rights as much as can be done, with the caveat that timeshare ownership is an ever-evolving metric that Marriott can change, then a direct purchase of DC Points is the answer.
If the flexible-usage design of the DC is the goal and you think you'll be able and willing to adapt when/if usage options change in the future, then purchasing DC Points on the external resale market is the answer.

Lmpower, note here that tomorrow will bring a DC Points price increase.  In your shoes I'd try to at least winnow out today whether you definitely want to purchase DC Points.  Being under the gun stinks but you could at least begin the purchase today and then hustle to get all the answers you need in the next few days, so that you can rescind if your first instincts aren't correct.


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## JIMinNC (Sep 10, 2014)

SueDonJ said:


> If we were in the market for more vacation ownership I'd consider in order:
> 
> external resales of Weeks, for mostly home usage with occasional exchanges through II;
> a Marriott Resales hybrid of a Week and DC Points;
> ...



Susan,

I like your hierarchy. I have had similar thoughts. If and when we decide to add to our recently-completed hybrid purchase (Silver Barony, plus Points), an external resale Gold HHI week would be our choice if we mainly wanted to add usage at that one specific locale. Doing another hybrid might be the best way to get more DC points if we decide that flexibility is what we need/want, particularly if the associated resale week was something we thought we might want to use as a week sometimes (and if we can find a combo/hybrid where the required points purchase doesn't blow-up the economics).

But I am somewhat curious why you ranked a direct DC Points purchase ahead of a resale DC Points purchase? The $12+ price is a killer. (And for that matter, as I noted above, the $12+ price element of the hybrid purchase even makes that upfront cost prohibitive except for smaller hybrid packages - for example, the required hybrid points purchase for a Gold OF Barony week would have been $45K.)

I am assuming based on you second list, you rank the resale points lower than direct because Marriott could decide at some point to change the usage rules on resale points. What limitations do you think they could put on the usage of resale points where the sale had been previously completed?


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## SueDonJ (Sep 10, 2014)

JIMinNC said:


> Susan,
> 
> I like your hierarchy. I have had similar thoughts. If and when we decide to add to our recently-completed hybrid purchase (Silver Barony, plus Points), an external resale Gold HHI week would be our choice if we mainly wanted to add usage at that one specific locale. Doing another hybrid might be the best way to get more DC points if we decide that flexibility is what we need/want, particularly if the associated resale week was something we thought we might want to use as a week sometimes (and if we can find a combo/hybrid where the required points purchase doesn't blow-up the economics).
> 
> ...



I haven't thought out exact parameters but instead vaguely, maybe something equivalent to when the DC was introduced and the enrollment fees were on a sliding scale based on whether Weeks were purchased direct or resale?

But that's the reason for the additional caveat, "if money is no object."  It's entirely possible that there may never be distinctions between direct and resale Trust Points, or that any future distinctions will make a previous direct purchase more valuable than a resale.

Overall it's probably that I tend to hedge my bets much more strictly than most others would.  Not saying it's correct for everyone but it's definitely what makes me most comfortable.


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## EKniager (Sep 10, 2014)

JIMinNC said:


> Susan,
> 
> I like your hierarchy. I have had similar thoughts. If and when we decide to add to our recently-completed hybrid purchase (Silver Barony, plus Points), an external resale Gold HHI week would be our choice if we mainly wanted to add usage at that one specific locale. Doing another hybrid might be the best way to get more DC points if we decide that flexibility is what we need/want, particularly if the associated resale week was something we thought we might want to use as a week sometimes (and if we can find a combo/hybrid where the required points purchase doesn't blow-up the economics).
> 
> ...



Maybe not a difference maker, but as of a couple of weeks ago, points could be had for $9.60/.


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## Fasttr (Sep 10, 2014)

JIMinNC said:


> What limitations do you think they could put on the usage of resale points where the sale had been previously completed?



I think the concern stems from this excerpt of the Exchange Docs.  

It appears its the *Special Benefits *they can screw with....whatever those are now or in the future.  



> *H. Base Exchange Benefits, Base Plus Exchange Benefits, and Special Benefits.*
> Exchange Company may offer Special Benefits through the Program to certain Members, from time to time. Such Special Benefits may vary, are not part of the Affiliate Program (or its reservation system), and are provided solely as part of the Program at the sole discretion of Exchange Company. Exchange Company has the right to establish such rules and regulations as it deems necessary to adequately govern Member access to such Special Benefits, which may include certain fees. In addition, Exchange Company has the right to restrict use of any Base Plus Exchange Benefits and Special Benefits offered by Exchange Company to certain Members, including, without limitation, only to those Members who (i) purchase an Interest from or through an “Approved Broker” which includes: (a) the developer of the Member’s Affiliate Program or Component; or (b) such other entity approved by Exchange Company, from time to time; (ii) acquire the Interest by virtue of being a Family Member by gift, will, divorce decree, testamentary disposition, intestate succession or trust from a Member; or (iii) is otherwise granted Membership by Exchange Company, upon the terms and conditions then determined by Exchange Company in Exchange Company’s sole discretion. If a Member does not purchase the Member’s Interest from an Approved Broker, such Member may be limited to only Base Exchange Benefits, or upon payment of the initiation fee, if permitted in Exchange Company’s sole discretion, Base Plus Exchange Benefits. Any offered Special Benefits are subject to separate terms and conditions, which may be changed, substituted, or eliminated without prior notice. Some Special Benefits may be provided by independent third parties and Exchange Company expressly disclaims responsibility for the acts or omissions of any persons or entities providing such Special Benefits. Special Benefits are only available to Guests that are accompanied by a Member or a Family Member of the Member.


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## JIMinNC (Sep 10, 2014)

EKniager said:


> Maybe not a difference maker, but as of a couple of weeks ago, points could be had for $9.60/.



I am assuming the $9.60 was some sort of a promotional/incentive offer from Marriott? How many points did someone have to buy to get that level of discount below the regular $12.12 price?


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## SnowDogDad (Sep 10, 2014)

Can you join Destinations solely by purchasing points on the resale market?  Or do you need to by your original points from Marriott?


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## Fasttr (Sep 10, 2014)

JIMinNC said:


> I am assuming the $9.60 was some sort of a promotional/incentive offer from Marriott? How many points did someone have to buy to get that level of discount below the regular $12.12 price?



Last pitch I was at in August, it was a 20% discount for a purchase of 3500 points or more.


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## Fasttr (Sep 10, 2014)

SnowDogDad said:


> Can you join Destinations solely by purchasing points on the resale market?  Or do you need to by your original points from Marriott?



You can join with a resale points purchase.


ETA: There are junk fees to be considered to open them up to full access in the MVC ressie system.


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## EKniager (Sep 10, 2014)

JIMinNC said:


> I am assuming the $9.60 was some sort of a promotional/incentive offer from Marriott? How many points did someone have to buy to get that level of discount below the regular $12.12 price?



Actually it was $10.30/ + MRPs or DC points versus $9.70/ without incentive points.  Not sure about a minimum.  

A couple examples from my notes:

3,500 DC points at $36,050 + 225,000 MRPs or 3,500 DC points with 2-yr expiration.  Or... $33,950 without incentive points, and
17,500 DC points at $180,250 + 1,550,000 MRPs or 17,500 DC points with 2-yr expiration.  Or... $169,750 without incentive points.

_We have since learned that a hybrid deal gets us to PP at a much lower cost and by renting extra points, we can accomplish the same thing._


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## JIMinNC (Sep 10, 2014)

EKniager said:


> Actually it was $10.30/ + MRPs or DC points versus $9.70/ without incentive points.  Not sure about a minimum.
> 
> A couple examples from my notes:
> 
> ...



I wonder if they would extend those discount DC Points prices to the matching points bought as part of a hybrid purchase or if it has to be a straight points buy?

As an example - using a Gold OF Barony Marriott resale week at $16,200 that converts to 3725 points. That hybrid would require the purchase of 3750 Trust points. At $12.12, the total cost of the 7,475 resulting points (enrolled week + points) would be $61,650 or $8.25/point. At your $9.70 discount price, the cost drops to $52,575 or $7.03/point. While the upfront cost in either scenario is probably more than we would ever want to spend on points, for someone who wanted a easy way to Platinum status, the $7.03 is very competitive with the all-in cost of a straight points resale purchase - $4.50 to $5.00 per point + $2 per point in junk fees to Marriott ($6.50 to $7.00 total).


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## EKniager (Sep 10, 2014)

I don't know the answer regarding $/point in a hybrid deal but I did do a quick analysis on properties to use in a hybrid purchase, here:

http://www.tugbbs.com/forums/showthread.php?t=216425


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## JIMinNC (Sep 10, 2014)

EKniager said:


> I don't know the answer regarding $/point in a hybrid deal but I did do a quick analysis on properties to use in a hybrid purchase, here:
> 
> http://www.tugbbs.com/forums/showthread.php?t=216425



I had seen that thread. It was a useful analysis. Our Silver Barony hybrid yielded a price/DCP of only $2.03, but since it's a Silver week, we get screwed on the MF/DCP at $0.71. But the options that yielded a better MF/DCP drove up the upfront cost and my payback period was about 40 years, so I went with the lower upfront cost option.


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## GregT (Sep 10, 2014)

SueDonJ said:


> If we were in the market for more vacation ownership I'd consider in order:
> 
> external resales of Weeks, for mostly home usage with occasional exchanges through II;
> a Marriott Resales hybrid of a Week and DC Points;
> ...



+1

I would also consider other systems, starting with HGVC and Starwood.  

To the OP -- do lots of research.....

Best,

Greg


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## Lmpower (Sep 11, 2014)

Thank you so much Everyone!!!!! I am still in the process of reading and trying to make sure I am not digging myself and my family in a hole---


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## puckmanfl (Sep 11, 2014)

good morning....


just a reminder.... a purchase of 15K points... doesn't mean you can go anywhere anytime..you are still "trading" just internally thru the exchange company.  You do have direct access to the Trust, but you will find the Trust can be light in the assests that you may want...

If you do resale weeks or resaLE HYBRID  I would get some deeded weeks that you really want to go to..such as Maui etc...  Cypress harbour can get you a great $/pt..but it is incrediblyeasy to get in there with getaways... Ac's etc...

I would suggest a hybrid package with a MOC week in there or ski week or HHI summer.. one of my partners did this with Mountainside and HHI platinum and snagged the package for $7/pt...


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## jont (Sep 11, 2014)

SueDonJ said:


> If we were in the market for more vacation ownership I'd consider in order:
> 
> external resales of Weeks, for mostly home usage with occasional exchanges through II;
> a Marriott Resales hybrid of a Week and DC Points;
> ...



Susan
I think this would be a good poll question:
If you were going to add on to your timeshare portfolio, what would you do?
Buy a Marriott resale week
Buy a non Marriott resale week
Buy a resale points package
Buy DC points from marriott
Buy a hybird package of points and a deeded week(s)
Do nothing, I have enough timeshares already

Did I miss any other options?
What do you think Sue?


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## SueDonJ (Sep 11, 2014)

jont said:


> Susan
> I think this would be a good poll question: ... What do you think Sue?



I like it, will get to working on it now.


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## Lmpower (Sep 12, 2014)

So i was thinking of doing this..

Buy a Marriott resale week- I am looking at Marriotts Cypress Harbor cost 6,900 Season is Summer--- Plus I get 110,000 Marriott Rewards points every other year... So I was thinking since I am going to Disney  next year I can stay at Cypress for the week in 2015 and in year 2016  use my points to go to Maui plus I might can rent the Cypress Harbor in 2016.. "Only issue is I want to keep going to Maui to visit  my parents".

I am sorry if this makes no sense I am trying to get the right Combo.. I did Look at Maui resale  bu I am trying to save some Cash  if I can ...


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## puckmanfl (Sep 12, 2014)

Lmpower

Not sure when you want to go to Maui...but it is a "tough get" with points.  As I stated earlier...have ytour "rep" do a Test drive on his/her computer...  It is even harder to get the new towers on DC points..Be very careful here!!!

If you want Maui   buy a Maui resale....

Ko-olina or Kaui Lagoons MUCH easier!!!

You can get cypress harbor for next to nothing on II getaways etc...

If you are going to spend a ton of $$$ xo it right and get what you want!!!


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## Fasttr (Sep 12, 2014)

Lmpower said:


> So i was thinking of doing this..
> 
> Buy a Marriott resale week- I am looking at Marriotts Cypress Harbor cost 6,900 Season is Summer--- *Plus I get 110,000 Marriott Rewards points every other year*... So I was thinking since I am going to Disney  next year I can stay at Cypress for the week in 2015 *and in year 2016  use my points to go to Maui plus I might can rent the Cypress Harbor in 2016*.. "Only issue is I want to keep going to Maui to visit  my parents".
> 
> I am sorry if this makes no sense I am trying to get the right Combo.. I did Look at Maui resale  bu I am trying to save some Cash  if I can ...



A couple of comments/questions.

As I bolded above, it appears that you believe you get your week every year, AND 110K MR points every other year.  Just wanted to clarify that you actually have the ability to trade in your week for MR points every other year.  In the years you choose to trade for MR points, you give up your week.  Just wanted to make sure you understand that.

Also, regarding Maui, are you saying you would use the MR points (and others from your account) to stay in Maui.  I believe Puck was referring to using DC points at Maui.  If you were considering using MR points, that's a separate issue and you might want to research availability booking with those.


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## GregT (Sep 12, 2014)

Lmpower said:


> So i was thinking of doing this..
> 
> Buy a Marriott resale week- I am looking at Marriotts Cypress Harbor cost 6,900 Season is Summer--- Plus I get 110,000 Marriott Rewards points every other year... So I was thinking since I am going to Disney  next year I can stay at Cypress for the week in 2015 and in year 2016  use my points to go to Maui plus I might can rent the Cypress Harbor in 2016.. "Only issue is I want to keep going to Maui to visit  my parents".
> 
> I am sorry if this makes no sense I am trying to get the right Combo.. I did Look at Maui resale  bu I am trying to save some Cash  if I can ...



I would take your time and study your options carefully.  These include other systems that are much cheaper to acquire than Marriott. 

Starwood has a Maui property comparable in quality to Marriott, and system-access can be purchased resale more cheaply than Marriott.   Worldmark has a very fine property in Maui, and a system that is dirt cheap to acquire.  Property quality is a step down from Marriott but worth studying. 

Renting Maui is always an option, with garden view units renting basically for the MFs.  Only OV and really OF rent for much of a premium. 

I wouldn't spend $20K on the hybrid Cypress/Trust Points option.  That's a lot of money for not a lot of points currency - maybe 3,000 points?

When do you want to go to Maui, and do you need a 2BR or is a 1BR sufficiently?

Best,

Greg


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## Lmpower (Sep 12, 2014)

GregT said:


> I would take your time and study your options carefully.  These include other systems that are much cheaper to acquire than Marriott.
> 
> Starwood has a Maui property comparable in quality to Marriott, and system-access can be purchased resale more cheaply than Marriott.   Worldmark has a very fine property in Maui, and a system that is dirt cheap to acquire.  Property quality is a step down from Marriott but worth studying.
> 
> ...



 I need  2 BR I got 4 kids---My Mom and dad Lives in Maui and I want  our kids to Visit them every year starting in 2016... They are getting older and it would nice for  our kids to see the island life I grew up in... I am getting a little overwhelmed from all the options..  I just want two weeks  in maui every year...  I swear it would be better for me to  buy a House in maui


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## GregT (Sep 12, 2014)

Lmpower said:


> I need  2 BR I got 4 kids---My Mom and dad Lives in Maui and I want  our kids to Visit them every year starting in 2016... They are getting older and it would nice for  our kids to see the island life I grew up in... I am getting a little overwhelmed from all the options..  I just want two weeks  in maui every year...  I swear it would be better for me to  buy a House in maui



Where in Maui do they live?

If you need two weeks annually on Maui, I would think hard about what level of accommodations you require.

If it must be Marriott/Westin quality, I would consider renting a 2BR Mountain Garden in Maui for approx $2,500/week.   denisetravels.com or redweek.com would be good leads.

If you can tolerate a simple condo, then I would look hard at Worldmark.  You can get a 2BR in Kihei for approx $800 per week.   The Worldmark is right across from Kamaole Beach and I've stayed there numerous times.

Good luck and let us know what you decide!

Best,

Greg


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## m61376 (Sep 13, 2014)

A few comments to add. To what others have already posted:

4 kids means you will be tied to school vacation schedules for many years. Prime Christmas week, New Year's week and President's week, and to a lesser extent Spring break weeks, were sold as premium weeks at many resorts and their supply is limited with DC points. Similarly it can be hard to book summer weeks, so even after shelling out 100k there is no guarantee you will get what you want. 

If you want Maui every year, then you might want to consider buying units in the original section. The drawback is not having a full kitchen ( half fridge, no stove) but the 2 BR's have 3 baths- always a plus with 4 kids, especially as they get older. The price is right on the resale market- and the many tens of thousands you'd save would pay for years of airplane tickets. Keep in mind that, as lovely as 1o,000 DC points sound, they would not be enough for 2 weeks in a 2BR in Maui in the new towers anyway, and I think you'd fall short in the original towers as well.

This may be none of my business- but it appears that you are thinking about financing this. I'd recommend thinking long and hard about that. Most of us here would recommend against buying a timeshare that way. It is a markedly depreciating (for points) discretionary purchase, and financing it is a good way to incur debt that can cause trouble.  You could likely rent the two weeks in Maui easily for the MF's plus one monthly payment, with no mega cash outlay, no long term commitment, and without the uncertainty of availability.


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## kds4 (Sep 13, 2014)

SueDonJ said:


> I haven't thought out exact parameters but instead vaguely, maybe something equivalent to when the DC was introduced and the enrollment fees were on a sliding scale based on whether Weeks were purchased direct or resale?
> 
> But that's the reason for the additional caveat, "if money is no object."  It's entirely possible that there may never be distinctions between direct and resale Trust Points, or that any future distinctions will make a previous direct purchase more valuable than a resale.
> 
> Overall it's probably that I tend to hedge my bets much more strictly than most others would.  Not saying it's correct for everyone but it's definitely what makes me most comfortable.



As someone who just closed a purchase of Resale DC Points as well as owning developer purchased DC points, I too am interested in what restrictions anyone believes Marriott could place on my resale DC points (having paid all of the junk/transfer fees - with the exception of the education fee, since I already owned developer purchased DC points before purchasing my resale points).


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## mthomtech (Sep 14, 2014)

kds4 said:


> As someone who just closed a purchase of Resale DC Points as well as owning developer purchased DC points, I too am interested in what restrictions anyone believes Marriott could place on my resale DC points (having paid all of the junk/transfer fees - with the exception of the education fee, since I already owned developer purchased DC points before purchasing my resale points).



What's the going price per point on resale?

We were an old weeks owner that resisted about 6 pitches for DC points, but finally bought 1500 points on an encore presentation this month.  We own a low value week in Shadow Ridge - only worth 2325 points - and we've always traded it very well.  After looking at the points charts, we always got about 5000-6000 points per year worth of bookings.  Still not sold that I won't be able to get better value through II trades (at least until the inventory really dries up), but I do think the flexibility of the DC points and the ability to get those hard to get resorts (and the new resorts) made it worth it in the end.

I hadn't read about the getting the resale through Marriott and purchasing equivalent DC points and be able to enroll the resale week.  Definitely sounds like the most economical way to build points.  Question - if you have 12 months to buy the equivalent DC points ... does it work the other way?  If I just bought 1500 DC points, decide to buy a resale worth 5000 points, could I just buy another 3500 points and be able to enroll that week?  I've debated buying a resale week at a resort that we are now frequenting quite often to use as a home resort.  But interested if I could get it enrolled in DC.

I'm glad the general consensus is that people are liking DC points (definitely good for owners of high value weeks).  We've been very happy with our week, but feel like it will be harder to get the same value, since we were one of those always trading for more than what our week was really worth.


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## ilene13 (Sep 14, 2014)

We are currently at the Marriott Marbella Beach Club.  I have met 2 couples who are trust owners.  Both couples are NOT thrilled with the program as they have been unable to book at specific resorts in the Caribbean and Hawaii when they wanted to.  We all know if the weeks aren't in the trust and enrolled owners don't turn their weeks into points the reservations will be scarce.


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## ilene13 (Sep 14, 2014)

Duplicate post


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## mthomtech (Sep 14, 2014)

ilene13 said:


> We are currently at the Marriott Marbella Beach Club.  I have met 2 couples who are trust owners.  Both couples are NOT thrilled with the program as they have been unable to book at specific resorts in the Caribbean and Hawaii when they wanted to.  We all know if the weeks aren't in the trust and enrolled owners don't turn their weeks into points the reservations will be scarce.



Interesting - I'd think those weeks would be the first to enroll since they are worth higher levels of points.  Probably more will enroll over time ... We held out - but I'm glad we still have the ability to keep the week and trade w/ II until we know the inventory is better with DC.  I'm planning to always have some weeks and some points available so we can go either way depending on what inventory is where.


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## ilene13 (Sep 14, 2014)

mthomtech said:


> Interesting - I'd think those weeks would be the first to enroll since they are worth higher levels of points.  Probably more will enroll over time ... We held out - but I'm glad we still have the ability to keep the week and trade w/ II until we know the inventory is better with DC.  I'm planning to always have some weeks and some points available so we can go either way depending on what inventory is where.



We own 3 weeks at the Marriott Aruba Ocean Club-- we do not receive a lot of points for our platinum weeks. Although we are enrolled in the DP we will never turn our Aruba weeks into points.  For this trip we turned our Surfwatch platinum 3 bedroom into points-- we get a boatload.  In fact I booked this trip and I still have over 1000 DP to use.


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## NYFLTRAVELER (Sep 14, 2014)

kds4 said:


> As someone who just closed a purchase of Resale DC Points as well as owning developer purchased DC points, I too am interested in what restrictions anyone believes Marriott could place on my resale DC points (having paid all of the junk/transfer fees - with the exception of the education fee, since I already owned developer purchased DC points before purchasing my resale points).



I too, as a purchaser of resale DC points, would like to know what restrictions these points would have. I have been led to believe none given that I paid Marriott the "education" fees and other junk/transfer fees.


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## NightSkyTraveler (Sep 14, 2014)

NYFLTRAVELER said:


> I too, as a purchaser of resale DC points, would like to know what restrictions these points would have. I have been led to believe none given that I paid Marriott the "education" fees and other junk/transfer fees.



We bought developer in 2010.  We added 2000 resale points in 2012. We have had absolutely no restrictions on these points. One sales person that we met with before and after that purchase did not even notice. At surf watch this past winter the sales rep (head guy) was more interested in hearing how we got them and if we had any restrictions or problems with them.

Ours are a different use year than our original. But that works out fine. Just need to know what the dates are for banking or use.


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## cman (Sep 14, 2014)

Lmpower said:


> I need  2 BR I got 4 kids---My Mom and dad Lives in Maui and I want  our kids to Visit them every year starting in 2016... They are getting older and it would nice for  our kids to see the island life I grew up in... I am getting a little overwhelmed from all the options..  I just want two weeks  in maui every year...  I swear it would be better for me to  buy a House in maui



With school age kids, you're better off renting. You'll find that you'll be able to get almost any week you like without having to plan months in advance. You also won't jeopardize your families financial future by taking on such a huge financial burden. The beauty of renting is that there is no long term obligations.

When you're done running your numbers for the various purchase options, bounce them against the cost of renting.


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## kds4 (Sep 14, 2014)

mthomtech said:


> What's the going price per point on resale?
> 
> We were an old weeks owner that resisted about 6 pitches for DC points, but finally bought 1500 points on an encore presentation this month.  We own a low value week in Shadow Ridge - only worth 2325 points - and we've always traded it very well.  After looking at the points charts, we always got about 5000-6000 points per year worth of bookings.  Still not sold that I won't be able to get better value through II trades (at least until the inventory really dries up), but I do think the flexibility of the DC points and the ability to get those hard to get resorts (and the new resorts) made it worth it in the end.
> 
> ...



Our resale points purchase passed ROFR at $4.25 per point (plus junk/transfer fees). Adding in the closing costs to the junk/transfer fees, our final P3 (Price Per Point) was $5.65 paid in full.


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## kds4 (Sep 14, 2014)

NightSkyTraveler said:


> We bought developer in 2010.  We added 2000 resale points in 2012. We have had absolutely no restrictions on these points. One sales person that we met with before and after that purchase did not even notice. At surf watch this past winter the sales rep (head guy) was more interested in hearing how we got them and if we had any restrictions or problems with them.
> 
> Ours are a different use year than our original. But that works out fine. Just need to know what the dates are for banking or use.



It's interesting you mention usage year. We shopped hard for our resale points to find a use year that matched our developer purchased points. I realize there are different schools of thought, with some who prefer to have staggered use years for their points. For simplicity, we wanted ours all on the same calendar and eventually found a seller with January through December points.


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## Fasttr (Sep 14, 2014)

kds4 said:


> Our resale points purchase passed ROFR at $4.25 per point (plus junk/transfer fees). Adding in the closing costs to the junk/transfer fees, our final P3 (Price Per Point) was $5.65 paid in full.



It sounds like you purchased before MVC increased the junk fees.  It should be noted for mthomtech that the junk fees are now $2/point.


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## kds4 (Sep 14, 2014)

Fasttr said:


> It sounds like you purchased before MVC increased the junk fees.  It should be noted for mthomtech that the junk fees are now $2/point.



That's true. Our contract fell on the bubble of when Marriott hiked the junk/transfer fee back in July. Our contract had a contingency that allowed us to back out if Marriott attempted to charge the higher fees. They didn't. So, we got the points. We believe we've found our sweet spot between weeks and points owned. If there is any future need that we can't meet from within our holdings, we'll rent points.


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