Help with booking DVC-looking to exchange points from MVC

[VineClimber]

Hi all. I'm new here so I apologize if I'm asking a dumb question. My parents bought into the points system through Marriott Vacation club years ago and got talked into buying even more points last year in order to go to Disney (on property, Grand Floridian to boot). How do I go about exchanging DVC points in exchange for the MVC points and if it has to be by weeks, what might be the best week to sell? Thanks.

 

[ljmiii]

I'm confused. Did they buy more MVC points when they were staying at the Grand Floridian or did they buy Grand Floridian DVC points?

And are you looking to use MVC points to stay at DVC resorts...or the opposite?

And are you looking to sell a MVC week ownership you didn't mention? Or something else?

I can tell you that you can use MVC points to trade through Interval International into DVC resorts (but essentially never the Villas at the Grand Floridian) and yes it has to be for a week at the DVC resort. Or you could do the opposite and use DVC points to trade through II to stay at a MVC resort for a week. But I'm not sure that answers your question.

 

[rickandcindy23]

If your folks bought Marriott to stay at Disney, that was a lot of money to pay for Marriott. They should have purchased Disney points to get Disney. Exchanging to get Disney is a crapshoot, especially if you like fall and Christmas decorations. You just don't get those opportunities through exchange. I was able to get Old Key West for 10/5 and was happy to get it, but that was as late in the fall as I could get.

I haven't seen Grand Floridian via exchange.

What a load of lies this salesperson had to tell. Show someone a resort code in the directory in II and they believe it. I hope that isn't the case because Marriott cannot get Grand Floridian or Riviera or Copper Creek, or even old Beach Club. You might get Boulder Ridge Villas (1 bed), Animal Kingdom (1 bed) and you have a shot at Boardwalk. Saratoga Springs and Old Key West are the ones I see most of the time.

So sorry. How old are your parents?

 

[VineClimber]

I'm confused. Did they buy more MVC points when they were staying at the Grand Floridian or did they buy Grand Floridian DVC points?

And are you looking to use MVC points to stay at DVC resorts...or the opposite?

And are you looking to sell a MVC week ownership you didn't mention? Or something else?

I can tell you that you can use MVC points to trade through Interval International into DVC resorts (but essentially never the Villas at the Grand Floridian) and yes it has to be for a week at the DVC resort. Or you could do the opposite and use DVC points to trade through II to stay at a MVC resort for a week. But I'm not sure that answers your question.

They bought MVC points while in NY. The Grand Flo has nothing to do with that. The timeshare people at MARRIOTT talked them into buying even more points claiming that my parents could use the mvc points to stay at the Grand Flo. A week is fine. That's not an issue.
Not looking to sell any weeks right now.

 

[ljmiii]

They bought MVC points while in NY. The Grand Flo has nothing to do with that...

So...it isn't a total loss as long as they aren't committed to staying at the Villas at the Grand Floridian. 1BRs at Old Key West, Saratoga Springs Resort, and Animal Kingdom Villas (and a few others) appears fairly regularly on Interval International. They/you will have to pay the various fees involved (and ideally be somewhat flexible in your reservation dates) but using MVC to stay at DVC through II is very doable.

 

[rickandcindy23]

Buy Disney to stay at Disney. Marriott and DVC are similar in cost, but the resale of DVC holds up. Buy resale, save a lot of money, and sell later for about the same amount of money you paid for resale.

 

[bnoble]

The timeshare people at MARRIOTT talked them into buying even more points claiming that my parents could use the mvc points to stay at the Grand Flo.

As @ljmiii mentioned, this is doable---minus the Grand Floridian part. They'd do this by trading some Marriott points for a week in a DVC resort, using their associated Interval International account. I've done this very successfully with non-Marriott timeshares over the years. They won't stay at the very most in-demand resorts, but they will have a variety of good options available most times of the year.

They will have the most success by placing a request for the dates they want, including all possible DVC resorts. Again as mentioned: 1BRs are by far the most common unit size, and Saratoga Springs and Old Key West the most common resorts. I'd encourage them to be flexible to start until they get the hang of how inventory ebbs and flows in the system--Disney periodically "mini bulk" banks units---about a month at a time, about five to six months prior to check in, give or take.

This is not a half bad tutorial, but the Marriott folks might have better ones for you to check out:

How Trading Marriott Vacation Club Points With Interval International Works - A Timeshare Broker, Inc.

Learn how to exchange Marriott Vacation Club points with Interval International. Get access to over 1,000 additional resorts & much more!

www.atimeshare.com

The "buy DVC to stay at DVC" advice is good advice, but unfortunately about a year too late for your parents. That's okay--they can still take great DVC vacations this way. I would encourage them to stop going to timeshare sales presentations, because something like this is eventually going to happen again.