Value of Marriott Points with school age kids?

[neworder71]

We can only travel when the kids are out of school, so Christmas, TG, Spring Break, Summer break. We usually book a 2BR with our current RCI points. Even our most expensive trade (Hawaii spring break) worked out to around $3000 in MF across 2 years of pts. But for something similar in MVC it appears to be around 5000 pts and if I'm understanding the MFs that will be somethign north of $4k. That seems very high for an in system trade.

So am I missing something here or is MVC as expensive as it seems for peak season/location bookings? Hilton and Hyatt appear more reasonable.

Is it just a function of less prime weeks being deposited by MVC weeks I have heard about? Meaning there just isn't as much inventory being offered so the price can be set high.

 

[TolmiePeak]

Yes the cost of HGVC is way more reasonable. Sure the Marriott properties are a bit nicer in most locations but not enough to justify the much higher cost.

 

[DanCali]

We can only travel when the kids are out of school, so Christmas, TG, Spring Break, Summer break. We usually book a 2BR with our current RCI points. Even our most expensive trade (Hawaii spring break) worked out to around $3000 in MF across 2 years of pts. But for something similar in MVC it appears to be around 5000 pts and if I'm understanding the MFs that will be somethign north of $4k. That seems very high for an in system trade.

So am I missing something here or is MVC as expensive as it seems for peak season/location bookings? Hilton and Hyatt appear more reasonable.

Is it just a function of less prime weeks being deposited by MVC weeks I have heard about? Meaning there just isn't as much inventory being offered so the price can be set high.

MFs have increased quite a bit at Marriott over 2022-2024. Booking with points, Hawaii is relatively pricey year-round but you can still find good value within the Marriott system for the times you travel. Not necessarily the AZ or CA Desert in July (which is very cheap), but other places where it's not naturally peak season.

The Marriott system does have 100+ resorts so it's worth looking at the points tables and see what may be a good fit for your travel habits and preferences. For example, the peak season in the Caribbean is Spring break. So if you want to go to St. Thomas or Atlantis in the summer, the cost in points/MFs is much more reasonable - it's humid and potentially hurricane season, so June/July is better than August to reduce risk even though it's never been an issue for us. There are also some Florida locations (Marco Island, Palm Beaches) where the same logic applies to. The same for going to a mountains location - the highest cost is ski season in the winter but we're not skiers and we like to hike so Colorado or Lake Tahoe in the summer is a good fit for us and the costs are more reasonable.

Also, if you're looking to acquire points "currency" there are ways to do it by combining resale purchases and a direct purchase that make it more economical in terms of MFs and upfront cost, even when comparing to resale points.

 

[sponger76]

We can only travel when the kids are out of school, so Christmas, TG, Spring Break, Summer break. We usually book a 2BR with our current RCI points. Even our most expensive trade (Hawaii spring break) worked out to around $3000 in MF across 2 years of pts. But for something similar in MVC it appears to be around 5000 pts and if I'm understanding the MFs that will be somethign north of $4k. That seems very high for an in system trade.

So am I missing something here or is MVC as expensive as it seems for peak season/location bookings? Hilton and Hyatt appear more reasonable.

Is it just a function of less prime weeks being deposited by MVC weeks I have heard about? Meaning there just isn't as much inventory being offered so the price can be set high.

I think it depends on where you want to go or what type of vacation. Prime-time in Hawaii can be pretty expensive points-wise, but there are plenty of other locations that don't take nearly as many points, even during summer/winter/spring break times. The more limiting factor is availability - if you aren't on the ball 12-13 months out (and sometimes even if you are) it can be very difficult to get some bookings.

But yeah, Hawaii during spring break, there are definitely far more cost-effective options than using Abound points, especially if they are trust points rather than elected.

 

[dougp26364]

We can only travel when the kids are out of school, so Christmas, TG, Spring Break, Summer break. We usually book a 2BR with our current RCI points. Even our most expensive trade (Hawaii spring break) worked out to around $3000 in MF across 2 years of pts. But for something similar in MVC it appears to be around 5000 pts and if I'm understanding the MFs that will be somethign north of $4k. That seems very high for an in system trade.

So am I missing something here or is MVC as expensive as it seems for peak season/location bookings? Hilton and Hyatt appear more reasonable.

Is it just a function of less prime weeks being deposited by MVC weeks I have heard about? Meaning there just isn't as much inventory being offered so the price can be set high.

We own both MVC and HGVC.

MF cost: Abound points are more expensive than most deeded weeks with HGVC, which continues to use deeds that convert to a point value to make internal exchanges

Additional fees: MVC Abound has a membership fee that is based on ownership level but is all inclusive. HGVC has a lower membership fee, but also includes Ala carte fees when you don’t use your home week.

Acquisitions: both have acquired inventory via buying out other systems. Marriott included all but Hyatt for owners to seamlessly book across systems, Hyatt has some licensing issues that have not been worked out. HGVC has acquired systems, but has a more complex booking system and requires an expensive purchase to book between systems

Booking: MVC allows all owners members yo book full weeks 12 months in advance. Depending on ownership level owners can begin booking single night stays at a certain point. Owners at the highest level can book as little as 1 night 13 months in advance. HGVC allows home week reservations at 12 months, club reservations at 9 months, and cross system booking at 7 months (I believe they have changed it from 6 months to 7. I could be wrong). HGVC requires a minimum 3 night stay. MVC booking windows begin with the check in date. HGVC with the check out date.

Locations: MVC has more locations that are all within their club system. HGVC has fewer locations with many of the, being affiliated resorts. HGVC has a large number of resorts if you own in what they call MAX.

Ease of use: I find MVC reasonably strait forward. HGVC is more complex with its mixture of HGVC, by Hilton club and MAX program.

Both offer high quality resorts. Hilton, at least on the surface, is less expensive until you start trying to maximize your options. I find MVC easier to navigate and get the reservation’s we want.

In the end it’s a personal choice as to what fits both your budget and your lifestyle. For us MVC worked better.

 

[neworder71]

We own both MVC and HGVC.

MF cost: Abound points are more expensive than most deeded weeks with HGVC, which continues to use deeds that convert to a point value to make internal exchanges

Additional fees: MVC Abound has a membership fee that is based on ownership level but is all inclusive. HGVC has a lower membership fee, but also includes Ala carte fees when you don’t use your home week.

Acquisitions: both have acquired inventory via buying out other systems. Marriott included all but Hyatt for owners to seamlessly book across systems, Hyatt has some licensing issues that have not been worked out. HGVC has acquired systems, but has a more complex booking system and requires an expensive purchase to book between systems

Booking: MVC allows all owners members yo book full weeks 12 months in advance. Depending on ownership level owners can begin booking single night stays at a certain point. Owners at the highest level can book as little as 1 night 13 months in advance. HGVC allows home week reservations at 12 months, club reservations at 9 months, and cross system booking at 7 months (I believe they have changed it from 6 months to 7. I could be wrong). HGVC requires a minimum 3 night stay. MVC booking windows begin with the check in date. HGVC with the check out date.

Locations: MVC has more locations that are all within their club system. HGVC has fewer locations with many of the, being affiliated resorts. HGVC has a large number of resorts if you own in what they call MAX.

Ease of use: I find MVC reasonably strait forward. HGVC is more complex with its mixture of HGVC, by Hilton club and MAX program.

Both offer high quality resorts. Hilton, at least on the surface, is less expensive until you start trying to maximize your options. I find MVC easier to navigate and get the reservation’s we want.

In the end it’s a personal choice as to what fits both your budget and your lifestyle. For us MVC worked better.

The flavors of HGVC are quite confusing, we'd probably assume we would stick with the legacy lineup and avoid the added costs.

To your point about Hyatt integration, I do wonder if being a Hyatt member when they do figure something out that you will be converted in at no cost.

 

[ljmiii]

So am I missing something here or is MVC as expensive as it seems for peak season/location bookings? Hilton and Hyatt appear more reasonable.

There is no doubt that MVC is more expensive than Hilton. Part of this is because during high season MVC Points are more expensive than MVC Weeks MFs...but even so HGVC is usually less expensive than MVC Weeks.

That said there is also no doubt that in many locations MVC is somewhere between nicer and much nicer. Having stayed at MVC Waikoloa I'll never stay at Kingsland or Bay Club again. The same is true in Orlando where MVC Lakeshore (and for different reasons the Palms resorts) mean that I'll never again do an Orlando HGVC. On Maui MOC is nicer than HGVC (to begin with you don't have to walk across the highway to go to the beach). That most of the HGVC locations in SC are in Myrtle Beach while MVC's are on Hilton Head speaks volumes.

Which isn't to say that I don't love many of HGVC's locations. Hilton Hawaiian Village is magical and actually IN Honolulu, the bHC NYCs are quite nice, and Liberty Place in Charleston is a new favorite.

Is it just a function of less prime weeks being deposited by MVC weeks I have heard about? Meaning there just isn't as much inventory being offered so the price can be set high.

Not at all. As I mentioned above, with MVC during high season there is a premium for using points over weeks but it has nothing to do with the inventory available.

 

[Pamplemousse]

Is it just a function of less prime weeks being deposited by MVC weeks I have heard about? Meaning there just isn't as much inventory being offered so the price can be set high.

It seems like you are talking about buying MVC/ Abound points.
There is a point calendar for each resort and it is set- only changes year to year as holidays move but the total point number is consistent.
If you book Abound points to Abound properties you do it directly through MVC- no exchange company.

If you buy a week you stay in your ownership or exchange on Interval. Owners deposit there weeks when they exchange- not sure what you mean about less prime weeks.

 

[ljmiii]

To your point about Hyatt integration, I do wonder if being a Hyatt member when they do figure something out that you will be converted in at no cost.

Not gonna happen unless/until Marriott International buys Hyatt Hotels.

 

[Dean]

We can only travel when the kids are out of school, so Christmas, TG, Spring Break, Summer break. We usually book a 2BR with our current RCI points. Even our most expensive trade (Hawaii spring break) worked out to around $3000 in MF across 2 years of pts. But for something similar in MVC it appears to be around 5000 pts and if I'm understanding the MFs that will be somethign north of $4k. That seems very high for an in system trade.

So am I missing something here or is MVC as expensive as it seems for peak season/location bookings? Hilton and Hyatt appear more reasonable.

Is it just a function of less prime weeks being deposited by MVC weeks I have heard about? Meaning there just isn't as much inventory being offered so the price can be set high.

Whether MVC in general will work for you depends on how flexible you are. MVC can work well for the times you quote as long as you're open to different resorts and times within those limitations. MVC won't work if you don't plan ahead (like a full 12-13 months) or narrow your choices down to high end options during the highest demand times. That said, MVC points isn't likely your best option and it's certainly not the cheapest one. Buying a week you will use many years or a good exchange options is likely both your cheapest and best option.

What's best depends on the specifics of your likely choices. Maybe it is MVC but it could be another system.

Not gonna happen unless/until Marriott International buys Hyatt Hotels.

And it likely wouldn't be at no cost.

 

[neworder71]

There is no doubt that MVC is more expensive than Hilton. Part of this is because during high season MVC Points are more expensive than MVC Weeks MFs...but even so HGVC is usually less expensive than MVC Weeks.

That said there is also no doubt that in many locations MVC is somewhere between nicer and much nicer. Having stayed at MVC Waikoloa I'll never stay at Kingsland or Bay Club again. The same is true in Orlando where MVC Lakeshore (and for different reasons the Palms resorts) mean that I'll never do an Orlando HGVC. On Maui MOC is nicer than HGVC (to begin with you don't have to walk across the highway to go to the beach). That most of the HGVC locations in SC are in Myrtle Beach while MVC's are on Hilton Head speaks volumes.

Which isn't to say that I don't love many of HGVC's locations. Hilton Hawaiian Village is magical and actually IN Honolulu, the bHC NYCs are quite nice, and Liberty Place in Charleston is a new favorite.


Not at all. As I mentioned above, with MVC during high season there is a premium for using points over weeks but it has nothing to do with the inventory available.

I have a shared frame of reference with kingsland, we've stayed there. What was better at MVC waikoloa in comparison?

 

[sponger76]

I have a shared frame of reference with kingsland, we've stayed there. What was better at MVC waikoloa in comparison?

I'm curious as well as I've stayed at Kings; Land (a LONG time ago) and thought it was very nice. Of course, the resort was fairly new back then. Haven't stayed at the MVC timeshare in Waikoloa even though I own in the MVC/Vistana system (and have greatly enjoyed their resorts that I've stayed at) and never owned in HGVC.

Having stayed at MVC Waikoloa I'll never stay at Kingsland or Bay Club again.

 

[ljmiii]

I have a shared frame of reference with kingsland, we've stayed there. What was better at MVC waikoloa in comparison?

I'm curious as well as I've stayed at Kings; Land (a LONG time ago) and thought it was very nice…

What the MVC Waikoloa has over both Bay Club and Kingsland is location. I know it’s only a mile or so away but the MVC sits ON A-Bay. And the Kings Shops, Queens Marketplace, and Lava Lava Beach Club are all right next door and easily walkable.

And it just makes a world of difference when you can just walk to the beach or the restaurant or grocery store or whatever.

 

[sponger76]

What the MVC Waikoloa has over both Bay Club and Kingsland is location. I know it’s only a mile or so away but the MVC sits ON A-Bay. And the Kings Shops, Queens Marketplace, and Lava Lava Beach Club are all right next door and easily walkable.

And it just makes a world of difference when you can just walk to the beach or the restaurant or grocery store or whatever.

Fair enough, although A-Bay isn't even my favorite beach on the Big Island, there are other's I'd rather drive to, or even fly to other islands to go. My wife and daughter on the other hand do find A-Bay perfectly acceptable. But my criteria for a good beach is probably different than most people visiting the area.

 

[vacationtime1]

A-Bay is a great place for watching sunsets. Crowds of people walk down to the beach most days to see it. I suppose the clouds look the same a half mile away, but there is something special about watching a sunset on a beach framed with palm trees. It's quite special.

 

[chosshaul]

Overall, the MVC properties have better locations in Hawaii than the HGVC locations. I’d give the edge to HGVC in Oahu and Big Island due to lots of options and availability while still having great locations. Oahu Hilton Hawaiian Village is pretty legendary and Waikiki just has way more to do than the Ko Olina side.

MVC pretty much owns Maui and Kauai. Hilton has really missed a lot of opportunity to get a HGVC in Kaui over the years. Point at Poipu is a great property but can’t count as HGVC and I bet even MAX members don’t find tons of availablilty there at 7 months. Also in Maui the location of Maui Ocean Club far surpasses the HGVC Maui Bay Villas in Kihei. It is fun to stay on the south.side of the island though.

All in all, this is a polarized topic and everyone has their favorites. I would gladly stay at any of these properties. However, for me it comes down to getting the best value for the the MF. The only way to do it for MVC is to get a deeded lock off property. I’m not an expert on this subject but I’d be curious to see which option people think comes out to a better value: MVC lock off or a low MF HGVC like Vegas?

 

[ljmiii]

Fair enough, although A-Bay isn't even my favorite beach on the Big Island, there are other's I'd rather drive to, or even fly to other islands to go. My wife and daughter on the other hand do find A-Bay perfectly acceptable. But my criteria for a good beach is probably different than most people visiting the area.

I agree...on days we want to 'go to the beach' we go to Hapuna or Beach 69. But pretty much every other day after we explore the island we go for a swim...and it's nice to be able to go to the pool and A-Bay and not just a pool.

 

[ljmiii]

The only way to do it for MVC is to get a deeded lock off property. I’m not an expert on this subject but I’d be curious to see which option people think comes out to a better value: MVC lock off or a low MF HGVC like Vegas?

Certainly the least expensive way to do MVC is to get a good lock-off trader (e.g. Grand Chateau in Vegas) and trade through II. And I can tell you from reading TUG for many years that owners are quite successful in getting into most/all of the Hawaiian MVCs - it used to be hard to get into Maui but after the fires it appears to be easier to trade into Maui and harder to get into Ko Olina.

But I've never 'done the math' because I've always been a proponent of 'buy where you want to stay' and in both HGVC and MVC own deeded weeks that we usually use as weeks but sometimes exchange/elect into points to go elsewhere. Not only is it easier to book what you buy but at the end of the day a deeded week *is* what you are buying...the ability to exchange through HGVC using Club Points or trade MVC weeks is subject to change and/or luck.

Lastly, I would say that number of places that have good availably for both exchanging through HGVC Club Points and trading into MVC through II is somewhat small. Someone new to timesharing and starting from scratch would probably do better owning Vegas in both systems than owning twice as much Vegas in one.

 

[dougp26364]

The flavors of HGVC are quite confusing, we'd probably assume we would stick with the legacy lineup and avoid the added costs.

To your point about Hyatt integration, I do wonder if being a Hyatt member when they do figure something out that you will be converted in at no cost.

Maybe. It’s been a long time but there was a nominal fee MVC charged legacy weeks owners like myself to enroll our weeks into Abound. I don’t know what they did for the Vistana/Sheraton owners when they integrated thise systems. We didn’t pay much originally to enroll our weeks. Something around $250 for all three deeded weeks at the time if I recall.

I doubt the Hyatt integration ever happens. To expand Hyatt owners options, they purchased Welk resorts and i tegrated that into the Hyatt system. Form many years I’ve hoped they would integrate Hyatt and MVC because we’d like access into the Branson, Key West and Sedona resorts. However it’s been so long and so complicated that even the sales weasels have stopped promoting that it will ever happen.

 

[Big Matt]

I'll weigh in on a few things based on my own experience which started about 25 years ago when my kids were young (now 30 and 27). We were in the same boat as you and making it even more tricky was that my wife was a school teacher at the time. What we have found with the points system is that you really get hit hard when you travel seven days given the price in points for Friday and Saturday. What worked well for us was a timeshare trade for 7 nights with a 5 night Sunday through Thursday add on for a two week(ish) trip. This year we took two five night stays with a two day hotel stay in the middle for 12 nights. IMO if you want to be in the Marriott system effectively you need to use both points and Interval to optimize your dollar.

 

[iftravel]

Timeshares are great if you are tied to school calendar. You always know when you can travel and you can and should always plan ahead. The trick is to be flexible with the location since the time is inflexible. For example, I wanted a Thanksgiving vacation in Florida and I put in a request in Interval for 20 ish Marriott / Hyatt / DVC resorts I like, and I got a match at Hyatt Coconut Cove. Happily surprised and that’s part of the fun for travel!

Cost is low if you get a good trader in II. My Colonies at Williamsburg can get you a week for less than 1k. A good Marriott resale week will cost you a bit higher but with preference.

 

[jp10558]

Another option in HGVC is to buy in Scotland and thereby also get DEX, which gets you much better access from what I understand to HVC etc out much farther than 7 months in MAX. It's like II in that you trade a week for a week. Personally it really depends on where you want to go - from my location I'm probably not going to end up going to Hawaii - we considered it if I got a match from Fox Run etc, but it didn't really happen and decided that FL and Europe and Caribbean are fine and cheaper for beaches anyway, or just easier to fly to. Like many, I prefer places I can drive to in 3 days or less - so the eastern half of the US.

Also, price wise - if you're at all dollar sensitive, I find that while Marriott and HGVC are nicer units, they're not enough nicer IMO to be worth it over places I can go to via RCI or good exchanges in II for way less than the MFs for a week in HGVC, and Marriott is more most of the time.

The other thing to keep in mind is like you pointed out - you have limited times you could go, so you need to consider setting up whatever you're doing to get the dates you must have in places you want to go. If you're going to places that are overbuilt or going hiking from mostly ski resorts or going by the beach in HHI in Feb or something - i.e. you'd be off season - then you can probably really drive down costs and book cheaply. If you're looking for peak seasons in places with limited locations, then you probably need to try and buy there so you can guarantee access.