Advice for Future Marriott DC Purchase

[JIMinNC]

I haven’t been active on TUG for quite a few years, but have some questions about the Marriott Destinations program.

First some background – we’ve owned a 2BR EY at Diamond’s Kaanapali Beach Club (was an original Embassy owner) for the last 15 years. We’ve used our weeks in Hawaii for 9 of those 15 years.

Over the years, though, we’ve come to want more flexibility than a pure weeks program – the ability to do less than 7 night stays (which we did a lot of prior to timesharing) and the ability to use hotels on future trips to places like Europe where we may want to stay just a couple or three days in several different locations.

So the flexibility of points-based systems appeals to us. The Diamond points system doesn’t fit, because we don’t like the resort options/locations, and while we love HGVC, their resort options are relatively limited.

So the Marriott Destination program is appealing because we love their resort options and because of the extensive hotel network. We did a preview package in Hilton Head recently with no intent to buy now, but to learn more about the system. We came away feeling that Marriot DC could meet our needs very well as a supplement to (initially) or even an eventual replacement of our Diamond week (if we decide to get rid of it some way in the future). Some of the non-timeshare travel options in the program (Explorer) also have some appeal on the surface, but we need more details on the pluses-minuses.

For the next three years, we are still basically tied to school calendars (our youngest is still in high school and oldest is in college), but I think the primary value to us of DC points would be in a few years when we become semi-empty nesters after both kids are in college, grad school, or work, allowing us to travel in other times of the year. Given our location near Charlotte, we would likely use Hilton Head/Myrtle Beach resorts some in spring and fall, but I could also see us using points to add a few days on another island to a Hawaii trip to our Kaanapali Resort, and there are many, many locations within the Marriott system that we would love to visit as well as the other travel options. We could use 1BR or Hotel units then for us and would only need 2BR if the kids joined us.

Basically, what advice would you Marriott experts offer as the best way to get involved with the Marriott system? Are there valid reasons to buy a minimum number of initial points from Marriott and then add to them with cheaper resale points later? Or, can you buy even your initial points resale without losing privileges or features with the DC system? What else do we need to know?

Our concern is being smart with our money, but not necessarily the cheapest possible option. We're looking for the best balance between cost, usability, and flexibility.

Thanks for any information you can offer.

 

[m61376]

Hmmm...lots to address here. The points program is great in that it does give you the flexibility you are looking for, albeit at a higher cost. In theory, being able to add on a few days or book short trips where/when you want is great, but keep in mind the inventory has to be available, and unless you are a Premiere Plus owner, you can't try to reserve less than 7 days until 10 months out (unless you want to pay a 20% premium) and you have to hope what you want is available then.

Also- keep in mind that point costs in Hawaii are high.

Marriott destination club points are not the same as Marmot Reward points, so that the timeshare points can't be used at most hotels. There are a few resorts in Europe but they are limited. So for most European travel you'd be looking at hotel rooms and not timeshares. The Explorer collection is a way of using your DC points for that type of travel, but can be more costly than booking directly.


If you want to start with points, either buy points on the resale market and rent any additional needed, or perhaps a combo resale week from Marriott and points purchase package, although the former is a cheaper way to enter the system.

 

[puckmanfl]

good morning....

Jimmy... just a few points to go over....

I am not going to advise you on how to spend your $$$, but want you to make an educated choice....

#1 The Marriott system is not a PURE points system...It is apoint system created on top of a mature 25 year old weeks system. This is crucial to understand as it impacts availabilty . Most people purchase Timeshares to go to the sweet joints in prime time. If you want off season getaways, II trades and $$$ work fine. Prior to 6/20/10 over 2/3 of the weeks were sold with over 80% in the prime places (HHI summer, ski weeks, carribean jan-march, hawaii jan-march and summer). You may own points, but you have no guarantees as availabilty is dependent on Legacy owners trading inventory. This si different form DVC where you have an "open slate" at 7 months at your home resort and 11 months at all else...

#2 Make an inventory of where and when you want to go and look at the points required...It would take at leatst 4000 and often more for many prime time weeks, with an investment of $40K (at least). You could pick up a resale HHI Plat AND ski week and have some $$$ left over for that...

#3 If you wantthe flexibilty of points and want to make a sound decision..You might consider a purchase of resale week from MVCD with matching purchase of points. With this bundle , they will let you enroll the rersale week. This will get you down to about $7/pt + ypu will own a deeded week as well... There are numerous threads on this...

good luck.. we are here to help..

good news so far inventory has been pretty good at hot joints, but I am PP so I have an advantage...

 

[GregT]

I haven’t been active on TUG for quite a few years, but have some questions about the Marriott Destinations program.

First some background – we’ve owned a 2BR EY at Diamond’s Kaanapali Beach Club (was an original Embassy owner) for the last 15 years. We’ve used our weeks in Hawaii for 9 of those 15 years.

Over the years, though, we’ve come to want more flexibility than a pure weeks program – the ability to do less than 7 night stays (which we did a lot of prior to timesharing) and the ability to use hotels on future trips to places like Europe where we may want to stay just a couple or three days in several different locations.

So the flexibility of points-based systems appeals to us. The Diamond points system doesn’t fit, because we don’t like the resort options/locations, and while we love HGVC, their resort options are relatively limited.

So the Marriott Destination program is appealing because we love their resort options and because of the extensive hotel network. We did a preview package in Hilton Head recently with no intent to buy now, but to learn more about the system. We came away feeling that Marriot DC could meet our needs very well as a supplement to (initially) or even an eventual replacement of our Diamond week (if we decide to get rid of it some way in the future). Some of the non-timeshare travel options in the program (Explorer) also have some appeal on the surface, but we need more details on the pluses-minuses.

For the next three years, we are still basically tied to school calendars (our youngest is still in high school and oldest is in college), but I think the primary value to us of DC points would be in a few years when we become semi-empty nesters after both kids are in college, grad school, or work, allowing us to travel in other times of the year. Given our location near Charlotte, we would likely use Hilton Head/Myrtle Beach resorts some in spring and fall, but I could also see us using points to add a few days on another island to a Hawaii trip to our Kaanapali Resort, and there are many, many locations within the Marriott system that we would love to visit as well as the other travel options. We could use 1BR or Hotel units then for us and would only need 2BR if the kids joined us.

Basically, what advice would you Marriott experts offer as the best way to get involved with the Marriott system? Are there valid reasons to buy a minimum number of initial points from Marriott and then add to them with cheaper resale points later? Or, can you buy even your initial points resale without losing privileges or features with the DC system? What else do we need to know?

Our concern is being smart with our money, but not necessarily the cheapest possible option. We're looking for the best balance between cost, usability, and flexibility.

Thanks for any information you can offer.

Jimmy,

Excellent question -- and you're asking it at the right place, good luck with your research and analysis!

No, there is no reason to buy from Marriott, you can buy Trust Points resale and get full usage. You can buy a base package resale and then rent points from other owners, so best alternative might be to buy the smallest resale package that makes sense, and then rent points. Another option is to buy a small points package, plus a great trading week while they are still relatively inexpensive, and use them together.

The cautionary comment I would make is that Marriott points (when used by themselves) are a very expensive way to vacation.

One of the appeals of timeshares to many of us (well, to me at least) is that it moderates the cost of the accomodations. I am accustomed to reservations of 5-7 days in length, usually covering both weekends and weekdays. Marriott (as have most of the other point systems) premium prices weekends. This has the benefit of making Sunday - Thursday reservations "cheap" if you can occupy those nights, which you can when are an empty nester and/or have retired.

But Friday-Saturday nights are very very expensive. As an example, I was just at Marriott Shadow Ridge for a single evening in a 2BR -- and this is off-season and the room was 600 Marriott points. Renting the points from another owner and using them would cost me $300 - $360 for that single night.

Now.....that's a great property, and convenient for us in SoCal to visit, but that's not what I term an economical night -- at least from a (cheap) timeshare person's perspective.

So, I would study this system and others before committing to a points only strategy. Lots to consider here!

Best,

Greg

 

[csalter2]

There are advantages to owning both!

I own both Marriott and Diamond Resorts International (DRI). I own points with DRI and I own a week with Marriott in Hawaii that I can convert to points when I desire for a specific year. That kind of week with Marriott is called a legacy week.

I find that having the two systems affords me maximum flexibility with my vacations. I sometimes use DRI points to stay in Marriott resorts through Interval International. Marriott and DRI points systems are very similar in their workings. You have weeks so I am not sure how familiar you are with DRI's points system, but they have lots of the same rules and are able to do many of the same things.

The quality of the Marriott resorts are higher than DRI resorts. You own at KBC which is one of my favorite DRI resorts, but it would be below any of the Marriott standard timeshares. The advantage that DRI has is the many, many locations throughout the world to use your timeshare. Marriott only has four in Europe and then a couple in the Caribbean and another in Phuket. DRI can fill in your location gaps where there are no Marriotts. For example, when I go to Hawaii, I stay at Marriott's Ko Olina on Oahu, but I stay with DRI on the Big Island, Kauai, and Maui. Marriott does not have a timeshare on the Big Island.

The Marriott DC points as stated by others is quite expensive. If money is not a concern, then understand that you will need about 4,000 points to stay in 2 bedrooms during prime seasons. As maintenance fees can become obtrusive over time, I would suggest looking over the Marriott resorts and seeing how many points will be necessary for the places you will want to visit the most and then just rent points for times you need more. Also, with you being able to travel off season, you would perhaps need even less points.

It is also important to know that you can still have access to cruises, hotel stays and other benefits like Marriott's and DRI's through Interval International. I would check out all of these options before embarking on paying lots of money to buy more points. You may find that keeping what you have may be a lot less expensive and you can get the same benefits.

If you do decide to buy the points, definitely buy them resale. If you pay all of the Marriott costs that goes with them, they should be unrestricted.

With all of this being said, my words of wisdom for you would be for you to find a nice Marriott property that you might not mind owning and buy that property resale. You would be a very, very happy camper.

 

[Fasttr]

JIMMY... In an attempt to keep my comments as "on point" as possible, I figured I would quote one of your comments, then give my views on that topic.

Over the years, though, we’ve come to want more flexibility than a pure weeks program – the ability to do less than 7 night stays (which we did a lot of prior to timesharing) and the ability to use hotels on future trips to places like Europe where we may want to stay just a couple or three days in several different locations.

If traveling in less than 7 day increments at Marriott timeshare resorts is what you are looking for, the Marriott points system seems to me more apt at filling your vacation needs than a pure weeks program. I see it as a great option for you and your family...both now...and as it shrinks in a few years. That said, most feel that the point conversion from DC points to MR points (1 DC point = 32 MR points) is not the best use of your DC points, so I would not get too hung up on using your DC points to stay at normal Marriotts on a consistent basis...its just not a cost effective way to use your points.

So the Marriott Destination program is appealing because we love their resort options and because of the extensive hotel network.

I agree....great resorts at great locations....with hopefully more to come at some point down the road. Again, I would not weight into your decision making, the ability to use your DC points for normal Marriott hotels on a regular basis....the numbers just don't add up financially speaking.

We came away feeling that Marriot DC could meet our needs very well as a supplement to (initially) or even an eventual replacement of our Diamond week (if we decide to get rid of it some way in the future).

As discussed above, it sounds to me that you are primarily looking for something now that you can add a few days onto an existing stay in Maui, or hit a few days in SC as it is near to you, or perhaps hit Florida or another MVC location for 4 or 5 days here or there. I agree, it sounds like it would add flexibility to your current situation, without forcing you to take another full vacation week somewhere if you purchased an additional week resale. That said, as others have pointed out, all the flexibility is dependent on availability, which I have found to be very good so far, but it is a concern as they sell more and more points.

For the next three years, we are still basically tied to school calendars (our youngest is still in high school and oldest is in college), but I think the primary value to us of DC points would be in a few years when we become semi-empty nesters after both kids are in college, grad school, or work, allowing us to travel in other times of the year.

The nice thing about points, is they would allow you to easily change your needs from 2BR now, to 1BR when you are empty nesters, and back to 2BR/3BR when you want to bring your kids and grandkids along some day. And with your kids likely starting new families not too far down the road, taking a full week somewhere is not always easy for them when they are starting in their careers, but they might be more likely to be able to take a long weekend to join you somewhere and the ability to use a few days here and a few days there is a definite strength of the points program. As you have pointed out, the big plus with points is the flexibility.

Given our location near Charlotte, we would likely use Hilton Head/Myrtle Beach resorts some in spring and fall.

The SC resorts point requirements are pretty fair in the spring and fall, and as many have pointed out in various TUG threads, its a really nice time to be there. The points system would allow you to grab a few days here or there to get away and refresh, again, without the need of utilizing a full week.

As others have pointed out, the points method can be a bit more costly, but if you like the flexibility the points system provides you and you feel that is the direction you want to go.... I suggest you purchase a small amount of points resale (to get into the game and to be able to book on your own, etc), it can keep the costs down and then rent whatever points above that that you need in any given year. With the plethora of points available to be rented on vacationpointexchange.com and the ease at which you can rent them, my suggestion would be to purchase a 1500 point package (considered a base interest by Marriott, so you don't want to have less as a pure Trust owner) on the resale market. You can likely very easily purchase 1500 points for about $5/point (or less) = $7,500. Then you pay Marriott approx. $2,300 in initiation and education fees ($2K initiation minimum and $300 education) to get you up to $9,800, toss in closing cost and lets call it $10,500 all in. From there you can just rent what you need over the 1500 points (rental prices are around 10 cents a point over what the MF's would be if you owned the points, so renting is a no brainer). That 1500 gets you in the game, provides you with a small base to use now with the ability to rent as many as you want each year as your needs evolve.

Some may say you should purchase 2500 points resale to maximize the Marriott $2K minimum initiation fee (what they charge for you to have full access to your points) as they charge $200/beneficial interest where a BI=250 points with a $2K minimum, but I say why spend the additional $5,000 it would cost you to purchase that extra 1000 points in order to justify not leaving $800 on the table via Marriott junk fees. I would rather save the upfront costs and just pay Marriott their $2K minimum and move on. And remember, if you own the points, you HAVE to pay the MF's each and every year, but if you rent any that you need in excess of the 1500 that you purchased, you are only paying a 10 cent premium per point in that one year as a true cost of rental (again, renting is a no brainer once you are already in the game).

I realize most here look at things from a week owners perspective, but I only own points, so I figured I would give you my perspective as well, hopefully tailored to what I am reading as your perceived needs.

Good luck!!

 

[JIMinNC]

Thanks!

Thanks so much for all of the great input. Everyone has offered a lot of great ideas for us to think about over the months ahead.

I’m intrigued by m61376 and puckmanfl’s suggestion of buying a relatively cheap resale week from Marriott and then, within 12 months, buying a matching amount of DC Trust points. I looked online and saw that a Silver Oceanside Barony Beach Club deeded week can be bought for $4,000. Looking at the points charts, it looks like Silver season equates to 2,050 points in the DC program (correct???). So within twelve months, we would then have to spend another $24,500 for 2,050 points based on current pricing…but, if I understand it correctly, that would then give us 4,100 total points that would have cost us $28,500 ($4,000 + $24,500), or about $6.95 per point. That’s a lot better than the $49,000 the same 4,100 points would cost if all were bought as DC points from Marriott. I am assuming under this scenario we would pay Barony maintenance fees for that Silver week ownership interest, plus the $0.45 per point maintenance fee for the 2,050 Trust points. Is that correct?

If I understand Fasttr’s suggestion on resale points correctly, it would cost $10.5K for 1,500 points, or about the same $7/pt. as above. Looking at the points chart, the 4,100 points in the example above would likely meet 90% of our needs, so if renting the extra 2600 points only costs 10 cents per point more than the maintenance fee ($260/per year), this would seem to be a much cheaper option, as long as renting points continues to be viable. Have I interpreted this right?

The combo week/points purchase example, however, would also give us a deeded week in Hilton Head. Owning another deeded week is not our top priority, and we would likely often use it as points, but a HHI Silver week would be usable over both Thanksgiving and Christmas – something that my wife has often mused would be great to do from time to time – so would there be any benefits to owning that deeded week in addition to points, versus just dealing exclusively in points? Are there any other advantages to the combo approach versus Fasttr’s approach?

What are the best sources to find resale points? I’m not sure how comfortable we would be buying something of that $$ amount over EBay, but what are the best, most reliable sources for resale Destination Club points?

Finally, is there somewhere I can get some guidance on what the Explorer Collection options require? I know folks say they aren’t the best value per dollar (point), but it would be helpful to see the relative points requirements.

Thanks again for all of your suggestions.

 

[cp73]

When I look at this I keep coming back to the points are an expensive way to go regardless of how your trying to dilute your cost here JIMMY. Rather than add the points (I like the $4000 week) why not just use that cash the pay for what/where you want to go? That will give you the most flexibility….How many years is it going to take you to recoup your $24,500? My guess is never...

 

[Fasttr]

I looked online and saw that a Silver Oceanside Barony Beach Club deeded week can be bought for $4,000. Looking at the points charts, it looks like Silver season equates to 2,050 points in the DC program (correct???).

You can't really look in the points chart to determine how many points MVC will assigned to a week if it were enrolled in the program. There has been much discussion on the Marriott TUG board about the "skim", which is the differential between the number of points required to book a week per the points chart, and what MVC allots to that exact same week when they allow you to enroll your week in the points program. I have seen posts where the skim on fixed weeks was in the low-teen percent and on averaged seasonal weeks, in the high single digits percent (because of the averaging). So using your Barony week as an example, you are likely to get "skimmed" by around 150 points (give or take) and find that week only allots you around 1900 points to use in the DC.

Likely the largest beef with most TUGgers regarding the rollout of the DC points program, was that they were alloted fewer points for thier week than the program required for them to turn around and book their exact same week in the program.

Just wanted to make sure you were aware of that.

Other than that, I believe your math is pretty sound in your post # 7.

 

[Fasttr]

Finally, is there somewhere I can get some guidance on what the Explorer Collection options require? I know folks say they aren’t the best value per dollar (point), but it would be helpful to see the relative points requirements.

I have attached a listing of the current Explorer Collection general selection areas. Within each of these general areas, there are specific trips, etc to choose from. As an example, under Adventure Travel, subsection Expedition Cruises, there are specific boat trips for Amazon River Expedition, Realm of the Polar Bear, Galápagos Adventure and Antarctica Classic.

If you want to know the points requirement for a couple of the various options listed on the PDF, I would be more than happy to look them up and let you know.

Keep in mind, some of the options are only available to Premier and Premier Plus level owners. Premier starts at 6500 points.

 

[JIMinNC]

I have attached a listing of the current Explorer Collection general selection areas.

If you want to know the points requirement for a couple of the various options listed on the PDF, I would be more than happy to look them up and let you know.

The options are so extensive, I guess I'm trying to just get a sense of the range of what these cruises and packages cost in terms of points to assess whether the value is good or poor. The Marriott Points Charts from the TUG FAQ give me what I need on that part of the program, but I can't get a sense of how many points are needed for this Explorer stuff. I'm sure it's quite a large range from item to item, but if there is some way to just give me a few typical examples - maybe a cruise, maybe a guided tour or two, and some examples of the hotel bookings available through Explorer. Just enough to give me a general flavor of the range of point requirements.

 

[JIMinNC]

When I look at this I keep coming back to the points are an expensive way to go regardless of how your trying to dilute your cost here JIMMY. Rather than add the points (I like the $4000 week) why not just use that cash the pay for what/where you want to go? That will give you the most flexibility….How many years is it going to take you to recoup your $24,500? My guess is never...

We're looking at points for flexibility. We already have a week-based property and find the 7 day stay requirement to limit it's utility for us. So we are not really interested in more weeks-based product for weeks-only use, regardless of cost. We want to be able to vary our stay length/accommodations as our needs and situation changes. Sometimes we'll stay a week - other times less. Points DO seem to meet our needs in that regard.

But you are correct, the $24K or $10K or whatever upfront cost is the hurdle we're trying to get past. Booking four or five nights in a MVC-type accommodation through the channels we would typically use - Orbitz, Hotels.com, Marriott.com, Expedia, etc. - can easily cost $400 - $500 per night (or more). If ownership can't allow us to drive down that cost when all costs are considered, it's not a smart deal, and we either have to be willing to book at market rates or not go.

 

[Fasttr]

The options are so extensive, I guess I'm trying to just get a sense of the range of what these cruises and packages cost in terms of points to assess whether the value is good or poor. The Marriott Points Charts from the TUG FAQ give me what I need on that part of the program, but I can't get a sense of how many points are needed for this Explorer stuff. I'm sure it's quite a large range from item to item, but if there is some way to just give me a few typical examples - maybe a cruise, maybe a guided tour or two, and some examples of the hotel bookings available through Explorer. Just enough to give me a general flavor of the range of point requirements.

Some examples.....

7 Night Southern Caribbean Cruise - from 3,450 points for an ocean view room (they go up from there for larger rooms)

Discover Ireland Tour - 9 Nights and 10 meals, starting At 7,500 Vacation Club Points (I believe that is for a couple, but not exactly sure....it didn't jump out at me)

10-Day Galápagos Adventure Package - from 25,000 points per couple.

7-Day Thailand Sailing Package - 9,000 points for a couple.

Colorado River Rafting Day Trip - 250 points per person

New York Marriott Marquis hotel - 1,250 - 2,250 points per night depending on time of year.

San Diego Marriott Hotel & Marina or Coronado Island Marriott Resort and Spa - 975 - 1,275 points per night depending on time of year.

Courtyard by Marriott Rome Central Park or Boscolo Palace Roma, Autograph Collection® - 950 - 1,400 points per night depending on time of year.

Boscolo Venezia, Autograph Collection® in Venice Italy - 700 - 1,250 points per night.

 

[cp73]

So you multiple the examples above x $.45 - $.55 per point based upon whether they are your purchased points or rented points to get an idea of what they are charging for those type of items before you amortize your initial purchase price paid. To me it looks like your paying over the market rate for those explorer items. What do others see?

 

[dioxide45]

Do we know if resale points can even access Explorer Collection? Has anyone tested that yet? It seems that the exchange documents have some limitations about access to Special Benefits for resale points.

Can resale DC points be traded for Marriott Reward points?

 

[Fasttr]

Do we know if resale points can even access Explorer Collection? Has anyone tested that yet? It seems that the exchange documents have some limitations about access to Special Benefits for resale points.

Can resale DC points be traded for Marriott Reward points?

Back when I was contemplating purchasing additional points via the resale market (before I came to the revelation that renting whatever additional points I need in any given year, instead of purchasing more, made a hell of a lot more sense), I had received written confirmation from two separate Managers in the MVC Customer Care department that as long as you pay the Marriott junk fees, you would have full unfettered access just as if they were purchased from Marriott directly.

Here was a quote about the restrictions on the points if you don't pay the fees.

The Initiation Fee is not required, but if it is not paid the points will be restricted to trust inventory only 60 days prior to the arrival date and the points will not have access to the Marriott Collection, Explorer Collection and World Traveler Collection.

 

[m61376]

Just to add to the mix- if you are a Marriott owner and get a Marriott Visa, you can frequently get a 35% discount (40 and 45 for Premiere and Premiere Plus owners, but that likely would not pertain to you) off the rack rate. Since you mention using Orbitz, etc., I thought that info. might be of interest to you. You don't have to be an enrolled owner for the 35% discount.

Also- a few Tuggers have recently purchased points on the resale market for five and change per point with the Marriott initiation fees added in- so $7 per point is a high estimate there. However, if you are uncomfortable buying on the resale market, then the week/point combo can yield a better deal. Just be aware that the MF's are the same regardless of season, so make sure that your MF/point cost isn't too high.

Lots of different options; only you can decide what will work best for your family, but feel free to ask questions and get opinions here; hopefully varying perspectives will help you in your decision.

 

[Fasttr]

Also- a few Tuggers have recently purchased points on the resale market for five and change per point with the Marriott initiation fees added in- so $7 per point is a high estimate there.

I believe the TUGgers you refer to purchased a package north of 3000 points. The last I recall was 3500 points at just over $4/pt plus the Marriott fees which netted out at around $5/pt all in. Because you are buying a lot more points, the cost per point gets reduced (because you are amortizing the Marriot Junk fees over many more points), but in my opinion, the game is not trying to get your cost per point as low as possible, but to minimize your total upfront costs to get into the game. And if the game the OP wants into is the points game, we all seem to agree points are expensive, so a buy less, rent more approach seems like sound advice.

As I suggested in my initial post above, I would rather pay closer to $7/pt and only have $10.5K in the game (and rent the rest which is basically a wash vs MF's), than spend $17.5K to get a 3500 point package IF my only reason for doing so was to drive my per point price down to $5. Again, that's just my opinion, but it seems to make financial sense... at least to me.

 

[jancurious]

Do you definitely have to buy your resale week from Marriott to have them enroll it when buying into the points program now?

We went to a presentation yesterday at Kauai Lagoons and the salesperson seemed to indicate that Marriott would enroll any resale week as long as you purchased the corresponding number of points from them. However, he was a new salesperson so he might not know the facts.

Just curious but if true, could save the poster money as that week would be cheaper on the open resale market.

Jan

 

[Quadmaniac]

Do you definitely have to buy your resale week from Marriott to have them enroll it when buying into the points program now?

We went to a presentation yesterday at Kauai Lagoons and the salesperson seemed to indicate that Marriott would enroll any resale week as long as you purchased the corresponding number of points from them. However, he was a new salesperson so he might not know the facts.

Just curious but if true, could save the poster money as that week would be cheaper on the open resale market.

Jan

Yep its true. The OP would be way better off buying a resale week for a fraction of what Marriott's resale department sells it for and even if they did not stay the whole week, would most probably be still cheaper than buying points.

 

[Fasttr]

Yep its true. The OP would be way better off buying a resale week for a fraction of what Marriott's resale department sells it for and even if they did not stay the whole week, would most probably be still cheaper than buying points.

I am confused as to how your answer correlates to jancurious's question.

 

[Quadmaniac]

I am confused as to how your answer correlates to jancurious's question.

Ok, yes it has been said by a number of people that they were offered the enrollment of their existing weeks if they buy the corresponding number of points. The other option is to buy resale from Marriott and it would qualify to be enrolled.

Better ?

 

[dualrated2]

Do you definitely have to buy your resale week from Marriott to have them enroll it when buying into the points program now?

We went to a presentation yesterday at Kauai Lagoons and the salesperson seemed to indicate that Marriott would enroll any resale week as long as you purchased the corresponding number of points from them. However, he was a new salesperson so he might not know the facts.

Just curious but if true, could save the poster money as that week would be cheaper on the open resale market.

Jan

The offer to enroll external weeks with a corresponding points purchase seems to come up often at Kauai Lagoons presentations. Not sure why you don't hear of it much from other locations.

 

[Fasttr]

Yep its true. The OP would be way better off buying a resale week for a fraction of what Marriott's resale department sells it for and even if they did not stay the whole week, would most probably be still cheaper than buying points.

Ok, yes it has been said by a number of people that they were offered the enrollment of their existing weeks if they buy the corresponding number of points. The other option is to buy resale from Marriott and it would qualify to be enrolled.

Better ?

It was the bolded portion of your first post that I was confused about for in either of those scinarios (assuming you are correct that a recently purchased resale week can be enrolled if points were purchased from Marriott), you would have to buy points from Marriott at retail pricing (less perhaps a small discount of some sort) in order to enroll your week....correct?

 

[Quadmaniac]

It was the bolded portion of your first post that I was confused about for in either of those scinarios (assuming you are correct that a recently purchased resale week can be enrolled if points were purchased from Marriott), you would have to buy points from Marriott at retail pricing (less perhaps a small discount of some sort) in order to enroll your week....correct?

I believe so.

What I meant by the bolded comment is looking at the OP's goal of adding a couple of days in Hawaii : Mid-season MMO Thur/Fri/Sat 1 br OV would be 575/800/800 = 2175 @$0.43 MF = $935.25. If the OP owned MMO 2br OV, MF is about $1950, lock it off and use one week, the cost would be $975. The cost to own 2175 points would be about $22K vs resale 2 br OV MMO is about $14K.

The smart money would be to buy a cheap trader and trade into MMO for probably $700/week.