Hi there everyone. Just returned from our summer vacation trip. I was lucky to get an exchange for the new Marriott Pulse in San Fran this past week. On side note, sorry to not responding to the others that wanted the extra nights I did not need. It was taken within minutes of me posting the free nights. I was on vacation and not really bothering with internet.
Got a call to do a 90min presentation for $150 Amex gift card while at the Pulse. Asked wife and she agreed which surprised me. Called the body snatcher back and set up a 930 appointment for Wed July 30. Figure would be like the last presentation 4 years ago and they would let us go after seeing our resale portfolio of non eligble weels.
Went down and was asked to fill out the standard questionnaire to I figure give the salesperson something to sell us. Saleswoman introduced herself 5 min later and said that she would be doing our presentation. Went to her office and she looked over our questionnaire and said how we could do many things with the new DC points system. She told some half truths and out right lies and I had to bite my tongue to not correct her as this would only make the presentation longer. What was funny was she did not have paperwork on what we owned with marriott. She finally asked what we would like to purchase at the cheap price of $14.36 per point (or there abouts). Told her we had no use for points as we owned 42 weeks with marriott. She was shocked and excused herself from the room.
5 minutes later a gentleman came in with a printout that listed all our MVC weeks. He also brought a paper saying that if we bought 5500 DC points he would let us enroll 7 weeks into the points program. I said not interested as I am happy with our weeks ownership and 97% trading via II. He then asked what would get to buy DC points. I replied that I would buy 5000 points if they would enroll my 38 non eligible weeks into the points program. He said he would ask but he didnt think it was possible. Came back 10 minutes later and asked if I bought the Grand Residence units from thier authorized resalers. I said yes and he told me that I could buy 5000 points and pay $5k to enroll one quartershare (13 weeks). The offer he presented is the standard enrollment for grand residence quarter share owners that bought after the cutoff. I said no thanks and thought I would be on my way. I countered that I would do it if he would enroll both quartershares (26 weeks) and 7 of my non eligible weeks. To make a long story short, I was able to enroll two quartershares at grand residence (26 weeks) and two units into the dc points program for a purchase of 5000 dc points. There is no language saying that if I sold the dc points the weeks would be unenrolled in the program. Now I can also enroll my 2 eligible weeks also into the program. This would save me about $6k a year in exchange and lock off fees. I figure it would take 14 years in exchange and lock off fee savings to recoup the $58k purchase if I keep the 5000 dc points. In my calculations, I took into account the 3% interest I would get if I kept the $58k in savings.
Now I ask the knowledgeable tug community for your opinions on this. I am still within my rescission period so would like to know your thoughts. I have only bought resale for our MVC and HGVC units (thanks to finding TUG over a decade ago before buying our first timeshare). Have only bought direct from DVC and am happy with that purchase. The purchase is not a hardship on our finances. Also have been staying at MKO 38+ weeks a year for the past 4/5 years and will continue to do so hopefully. So those exchange fees are a real expense for us.
If you made it this far, thanks for reading. Sorry for the long winded post.
Don’t you wish you knew the conversation between the sales staff after you left? They must love seeing 30-40 y/o’s in a high income bracket walk into the room. You, GregT’s friend (another thread), GoldenVike. Seems to be a pattern forming here.......
This is a lot of number crunching and I got hooked. There’s still too much unknown for any of us to understand the full picture. Obviously you already have a major investment and a hunk of m/f’s.
What you seem to be asking is ... is a $58k purchase, that you hope to recoup in 14 years because you assume you’ll be spending that much or more in fees, worth the gamble? It is a gamble because you may change your travel habits. This is a purchase, not for the use/value of the points, but to save potential fees.
Wouldn’t it be better to look at all you will have invested, along with the annual m/f’s, and ask yourself if it’s worth what you’re doing with it? Then ask yourself if life had some major changes would you still be able to salvage what you’ve put in?
Even though you’ll have the possibility for lots of DC points it doesn’t sound like you want to use the purchase for the use of exchanging your weeks to points. Seems you’d lose value as, in many instances, points reservations are the most premium way to book a room.
When you made your calculations for the 14 years did you take into account the m/f’s you’ll be paying on the 5000 points? You’ll be saving $6K in fees but spending nearly $3K in new m/f’s plus the annual DC fee.
If you’re spending $58K to save $6K annually for 14 years, couldn’t you just rent some of your portfolio annually to cover the $6k?
I’ve got to ask about the 38 weeks at MKO. How many weeks at a stretch? Do you have to change rooms while you’re there?
